You finally got to the root of the cause at the very end. English speakers buying and flipping. Japan isn't stupid. They simply decided to cut out the middleman.
As an added bit of context, my last trip to Japan was in 2018, and CIB Famicom, SFC, and N64 games I got under $20 with a less favorable exchange rate than we have today are pretty much all over $100 even on Yahoo auctions. Anecdotally, this feels like fallout from that $5K purchase of a sealed SMB on Famicom during the height of the WATA pump up. I’m not sure if these sellers think they’re taking advantage of clueless investors, or trying to discourage speculation into Japanese games altogether, but I wouldn’t be surprised by either.
Definitely because of wata They're trying to break even by selling at these prices that nobody will pay because they were foolish to believe any of that nonsense Reminds me of the guy who scalped movie tickets that nobody bought from him, and he went crawling back to the theater to try to get a refund. He was denied 😂
Seriously?! A Japanese copy of Gran Turismo costs that much?!!! I got a copy of the game at my local store for just around $5. The scalper ruined everything!!!
Seemingly all hobbies, especially collecting, have seen absurd price hikes post pandemic. Some people hope a bubble will pop, but I just don’t think that’s the case for physical media. You have finite goods with an ever larger fanbase, with gaming have exploded over the last 10-20 years. Companies should rerelease more of their titles, that’s the only way I see it cooling off, that and easier emulation.
But emulation is already getting super easy, any bottom end PC or $50 retro handheld can emulate these games, finding them online is even easier - especially if you are one of those who actually care about obscure old titles. The only investment it requires is getting a controller that does them justice. Beyond any reasonable price ($50?) for a game, this is all about speculation and/or vanity, not enjoying them.
Yeah importing is rough if you don’t “know a guy”. eBay is filled with crazy prices. Yahoo Japan has some more decent ones (though some of them are getting high too), but getting a proxy shipper usually ads on crazy fees that makes it not worth it. Sometimes you may get lucky and see someone just trying to offload their imports, but that is few and far between. I miss the good ole days.
From what I understand, there's a bunch of people in Japan that go to thrift stores and used stores like HardOff, Don Quijote, Super Potato, etc... And then they resell those games on eBay. I'm pretty sure Japan caught on to a lot of Americans visiting Japan and buying a bunch of Japanese retro games. Some Americans do the same with the intention of reselling back in the US. This is a common occurrence among other hobbies like model kits & figures too. With the way the economy is, a lot of people are resorting to reselling and scalping things that people are into.
I've been seeing these price changes basically happening in real time even on Japanese sites like Surugaya. I've had games set up on my wishlist there for a couple years and seeing prices go up has been insane. Now I think the falling value of the yen also has a lot to do with that. Around when the pandemic started 100 yen was about one US dollar. But ever since the pandemic that has dropped immensely. Now 100 yen is only around 69 cents. But that's obviously not the only reason. I think importing has become far more common in the past few years and sellers are ABSOLUTELY trying to buy and flip games. People are also traveling to Japan again in droves since the borders opened and we've been seeing the effects. I don't think Ebay was ever a great place to go for imports but now it's basically impossible to find any good deals unless you're lucky.
Favorable dollar to yen exchange rate makes the price increase even more dramatic. If something was a ¥1,000 you could hypothetically get it for $10. If they want $100 now, they’re basically saying it’s a ¥14,456 game.
@@Noirevert It doesn't always work this way. Obviously when there's inflation prices are going to go up. It happens here and it happens in Japan. I've seen plenty of games become more expensive in terms of yen, but because of the exchange rate, the prices are still basically the same as a few years ago. But then there are other examples where games just go up like crazy. Inflation has something to do with it but so do other factors which is the point I was trying to make. I think ebay sellers are conflating that inflation as well as the price increases we're seeing across the board but when you look at Japanese markets the price increases are mostly happening for very expensive games.
Helpful video. Under recommendation I tried buying import Saturn over local copies. Between postage costs and prices being fairly similar to local prices I gave it up quickly. You explained the likely reasons for this situation at the end, it fits.
I got back from Japan a month and a half ago, and the game prices are all over the place. I'm finally getting into PC Engine games, and the prices are 3x from what it was, say, 8-10 years ago, but still more than half the price of what it was on eBay. Even some heavy hitter Sega Saturn games were 50-80% cheaper than the market rate on eBay. I feel like eBay prices for imports are mostly trash. Prices aren't insanely cheap as it was in my past few trips, but it's still drastically cheaper in Japan than here. Though to be fair, I tended to shop far away from Tokyo, or in areas that isn't swarmed with tourists. You can still find deals in Tokyo, but it's not common, and often more expensive than eBay prices.
I had a very similar thing to your Harmful Park experience happen to me on Ebay with Hana Taka Daka. By the time that issue was resolved, and I got my refund, the game was more than double the value on Ebay.
I totally remember when Koro Koro Post Nin was like $20-$30 brand new. I bought multiple copies and gave them to friends because it was a cool Cameltry clone.
The insane prices increases on ps1 pushed me away from importing shmups/beatmups. It had me looking even harder to find more affordable gaming fun. Recently got Light gun game Mechanical violator Hakaider &Segata Sanshiro on Sega saturn and Pop'n Music vol1-6 PS1 and two controllers on eBay for not much money. Japanese Shop owners getting together to all relist at higher prices is a scary thought.:'/
That’s crazy about harmful park because the same exact thing happened to me about 8 years ago. I purchased the game twice and the seller from Japan ended up cancelling both times. The prices just continued to rapidly climb
Pete! Is Serial Experiments Lain actually hard to find? Every Japanese game store I went to seemed to have at least one of them and they're asking crazy prices!
Retro game collecting to me has become quite an unenjoyable experience. I collected as a Hobby, spending $5-50 here and there to add to my collection. Most of the the most sought after titles I'd like to get have reached $100, $200 or even $300 terriotory now. With a family I can't justifiy the price.
Generally, I don't really like eBay for Japanese imports. It's getting harder to find those deals. I lived in Japan from 2017-19 and my household goods weight coming back was literally 5,000 lbs of video games. =D I had got my boxed Pokemon N64 for $30, boxed Panasonic Q for $300, tons of great games for extremly cheap - Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire (PCE) for $5 because my local Book Off had no idea what to price PCE games at. The list goes on. I actaully regret assing on Kyuiin for $60 back then too. Point is, yes, in the non-tourist areas of Japan at the time the prices were still quite good. I visited that same area about 6 months ago and, more than likely due to Americans and resellers, a lot of that stuff dried up. The video gaes sections were 25-50% of the size of what they were when I lived there and the selection & prices were not nearly as good. That's over a 5 year period and post-pandemic. I can only imagine the 'gasm busting experience it would have been in the early 2000s.
This seems to just be a problem with import games being jacked up on eBay. For example, Winds of Thunder on PCE is currently selling for 120$+ on eBay, while I bought that game on yahoo auction for around 50$ just a couple of months ago where I was the only person who bid for it.
Interestingly, I actually got a video AD today of a Japanese game seller on eBay. If they have the money to make ads, you know they are making bank. The whole retro game collecting has basically gone down the drain as far as I’m concerned. I think if you truly want these games to PLAY, you should emulate. Physical collecting has become an investment ‘hobby’
I know that NeoGeo Pocket Color games gone up significantly. Look at Big Bang Pro Wrestling for example. Yikes! But yea, I don't know what the deal is.
I remember watching Lucifer Ring at 80 cents on a bulk back in 2015. Then the seller cancelled the purchase and I saw the game was 150usd. Great game tho! The first game I got for my PS1 when I was a kid in the Jack Sparrow days over here.
my last import purchase was Pepsi Man 4 years ago. It got way too crazy for me even back then. I also always had an inkling about price fixing in Japan. Everyone on ebay was selling at almost exactly the same price. It's super fishy.
@@TheKayliedGamerChannel-RUclips Ah yes, I was wondering when we were gonna get one of the weebs to defend their beloved Japan. Japan is not the utopia you see in anime my dude. It's just like any other countries with its positives and negatives.
Sellers from Japan on eBay are targeting foreign customers. Most of those sellers are actually foreigners living in Japan, not Japanese sellers. No one in Japan uses eBay. So yeah, sellers on eBay are trying to take advantage of you xD
I’d be interested in a ps1 imports video. I know very little but hear all about these amazing shooters and action games. I have a ps3 and mister so always interested in imports worth looking at whether it’s something I can try out on Japanese PSN or go the emulation route.
It may not be, but in this economy, I doubt many people are going to those conventions unless you have money saved up. And a lot of it@@dragongamer2670
@@dragongamer2670really most conventions I used to go to had prices higher than eBay. Typical convention markup. That was years ago though. Have things really changed?
Pete! Is there any chance we can get some updated collection videos? I’d love to see what you’ve acquired over the years. I still watch your old collection videos to fall asleep too.
I started noticing this about a year and a half ago. Some shops in jp will actually make a online shop for english users, while keeping the Jp one separated. They will inflate the price for english buyers. Its getting crazy out there.
That isn't true. A great recent example is Germs for PS1. Last copy on ebay sold for 800USD. Then to fill the void hit-japan put up the same copy in two seperate listings at a price of 1900USD. When I confronted them about it they said that they couldn't see the previously sold listing and had priced it fairly. Pete is right about them cornering the market and jacking up the prices for no good reason other than greed.
Great video! It's a shame that JP prices have risen so much. It previously was a place to find lots of gems that either didn't make it to the west or had become insanely expensive here. Do you import many modern titles? I've been bringing a fair amount from asian over for my switch. Still a thrill seeing the different language box in my collection. Thanks for the video!
Initial D for the PS3 is the only Japanese Import I have ever bought. Never understood the appeal. I get frustrated just navigating Initial D's menus and its a freaking racing game.
It's happening with so many other types of products too. For example, I like vintage Swatch watches, but they've skyrocketed in price since covid and it's now become unaffordable to collect them as a hobby, and sellers are also charging insane shipping fees.
I don't think there is a conspiracy by Japanese sellers to push the price of certain games. Most likely it is as you said they are working against resellers. Also it is possible that some games receive a spike in popularity and can shoot up overnight through trends in Japan that we are unaware of. Usually happens with any game that is played on Game Center CX.
My experience is the 'or best offer' option can result in them accepting WAY below the asking price. I've not yet had one of my low ish best offers refuses. Low ish in comparison to their asking price. I mostly buy PS3 games from japan
Really? I’ve yet to get one single counter offer from a Japanese seller that wasn’t less than 8% off the asking price, if they countered at all. Wasn’t even lowballing them. Edit: wait no there was one who accepted my offer. The sale was then cancelled and I got an apology as the seller’s “boss” didn’t want to accept a lower price. Then why have a best offer option on your auction 😂
@@Dusty_B hehe. Your experience and mine differ. My offers are auto accepted instantly which always makes me think I should have tried harder and gone lower.
I would expect that if these marked up import games aren't selling for as much they are asking for, over time the sellers will start undercutting, and prices that are being listed should find a new and lower equilibrium. But clearly this isn't happening, which is a bit strange IMO. Maybe these agreed on prices can stay so high because of the japanese culture? As in, they won't undercut out of respect of the agreed price?
Its been awhile but I remember collecting saturn in early 2000s the games were already triple digits but you could get import versions for 20-30 bucks. I stopped collecting a long time ago sadly its just too expensive-so much better from a tech and availability stand point though!
Personally, I think that this is a combination of things (aside from what seems to be some obvious price fixing): USDJPY disparity remains high; currently at 144 Yen to the USD, where traditionally is was closer to 100 Yen for many years. This probably prompted savvy US buyers to buy directly from Japanese sources (like Yahoo Japan) instead of US eBay, and you can be sure that Japanese sellers have been noticing a lot of purchases from those "Middleman" outlets. The above disparity has probably been fueling a lot of US resellers to buy from there, given the buying power the USD affords them right now. The effect of this inflation disparity is just forcing sellers to charge more to make up for this deficit, so yeah, they will maximize their earnings as much as they can get away with - and owing to my early comment, if wouldn't be surprising if a lot of vendors who transact online are colluding to help each other out. And finally, you have to figure to some degree with some of the more popular sought after games that, yes, we are probably looking at diminishing supply, given how long US buyers have been consuming Japanese inventory all these years.
Since last I knew, older games and consoles in Japan were far cheaper than western retro stuff- though NTSC vs PAL also have deviation. It's gonna just be a dead end hobby due to scalping for the next golden goose of price-gouging.
And a heads up to fellow collectors/retro gamers: Einhander, Klonoa, and Trap Gunner are crazy cheap compared to US versions, also highly payable JP versions (Einhander and Trap Gunner largely in English)
You’re not kidding, as someone who goes to Japan every year and has been for a long time, the prices have gotten wild. I have a bunch of friends there now and they can still get things for a better price but not much these days. These days you don’t go to Japan to look for games because it’s not worth it. Go for the sights and the food. Hope no one from Japan is watching but you scrolled by Panzer Bandit for like $120 and it’s one of the best import PS1 games out there, hasn’t gone up in like 7 years and absolutely worth the asking price.
Game prices in japan stores have skyrocketed... So its the knock on effect. Also years of importers abroad and stuff lost thru export of supply is also a possibility. The world has surely sucked a huge chunk of the quality retro games out of japan the last 15 years... its not an infinite supply chain.
These prices arent even games that are sold, wre they? Anyone can ask for any price they want, doesnt mean anything I got a import copy of pokemon platinum (japanese CIB copy) from a us seller for 49.99$ while the NTSC copy was going for hundreds of dollars I also got a Japanese import ds lite refurbished for 55.99 when the American consoles are going for 100$ plus All within the last month or so I think it also depends on how rare the game is to start with. Love you pete
Did MetalJesus or some other RUclipsr post a video about Harmful Park between it going from $100 to $300? Because I have seen that happen many times. And then people complain its Ebay sellers… Sellers can only sell at a price people are willing to buy at. Buyers need to chill out as well if they want prices to calm down. Is it possible for a seller to lock the market? For some games maybe, and probably on obscure imports it is more likely. But they still need a buyer to pay up. I’m also a collector and this is just my take.
Gaming is a rich persons hobby now it’s sad just miss the days of walking in a store and leaving with a handful of games and some money left in the wallet lol
You HAVE to stay away from eBay regarding imports. It's a total joke. Its very evident that a group in Japan is trying to corner the market to completely rig gaijin buyers. I've been buying my imports elsewhere where the prices are fairer than this crap. I will say, just in the past year to two years, even at the fair priced places stuff has gone up tremendously. I took a trip back to Japan last year (went before COVID too), there were some things I was just amazed even what places like Hard Offs were charging. They know what they got now, and stupid people are ponying up.
Stuff was cheap-ish even 4-5 years ago. Things went through the roof in the past couple years and I'm glad I'm not looking anymore Also wow yamatoku never came back after 2020
Every single listing on eBay right now is being dropshipped by a reseller in Japan. They take any given "buy it now" yahoo Japan or mercari listing and relist it on eBay at 2.5-3x the price. They don't actually own anything they are selling. They wait until their eBay listing sells, then they pay for the domestic Japanese listing. Zero risk involved. That's what happened with the Harmful park you bought. The original Japanese listing was gone by the time you bought it on eBay, so the reseller had to refund you. There is no evil scheme at play, or collusion happening in the Japanese collecting community. Demand has increased for these exponentially over the past decade and that's being compounded by the fact that you've been looking at the absolute worst possible way to buy these games.
The insane prices of retro games are what made me stop collecting. I just can't bring myself to pay 4x or more what a game cost on its release when its freely available to emulate. Is it the same experience? no. Is the original experience worth $200-$1000. Not a chance.
Your suggestion that these sellers communicate (or at least watch each other closely) is probably correct. A tip if you're seriously eying something is to place it in your watch list, some sellers will then offer a discount, and you can also counter-offer.
Same reason why for a few years certain people thought Mario 64 sealed was worth a million dollars even if it was "graded". So many people in the retro game community are not the brightest of stars, I'll tell you that
Japanese sellers are the worst on ebay they will use someone else's product pic of a nice condition item then send you nothing near as good condition.Then you you have to go thru the hassle of returning it ,leave negative feedback then ebay will remove your negative feedback ??? and some poor sucker after you get's to go thru it.I know I will never own harmful park,adventures of little ralph that is why I encourage people to contact limited run like I do to make it.
It's definitely interesting but I honestly stick to my belief that the VG market is currently totally fake and the vast majority of these games *are not selling*. People are not buying these games. Do an experiment - pick some high price games and keep an eye on them and see if they ever sell - I really don't think most of them do. Flippers have basically gone ham buying up all the stock in the deluded hope they will make loads of money.
it isn't just imports my guy. It is anything on Ebay. Just saying.. just because idiots on Ebay want to Charge for $9K for a game. Doesn't make it so.. Look at what is actually Selling and what Collectors are actually selling stuff for in other markets. People need to get smart and just stop buying and the prices will easily Fall.
Ive said, game collecting died when it became popular on youtube.. Now you have guys who make vlogs of themselvs going to all garage sales every weekend buying up anything they can find from some mom who has no idea what shit is worth to then flip it for some stupid insane price.. And these dudes will stock up on trunks full of shit, bins and bins of duplicates they gather to then sell for full price. Im surprised the japanese market took this long to catch up.. I can 100% see a complete crash on retro collecting in the next 5 years or so.. These prices are absolutely stupid now, even common games that are not sport games are expensive. What annoys me is that almost all nerdy hobbies that involve collecting have become about the investment and not about the fun within the hobby. When buying a game its not "fuck yea this game is going to be so fun to play" its "man if i buy this now for 30$ i hope in 3 years i can sell it for 90!" The same bullshit happen to Magic the gathering, it went from "its fun to get together with friends and play some mtg" to "If i buy this box for 150$ i better be able to flip its contents for 400$ or this is a god damn scam!" from "dude this card is so good" to "fuck yea my 20$ card is now worth 200$, im going to put it in a binder and hope that in 2 years i can sell it for 500!" And im not even saying that prices should forever stay low, that makes no sense, but this idea of these hobbies being about investment possibilities is a massive turn off. I dont care if my 20$ game is worth 200$ in 2 years from now, ill be just as happy with my game if in 2 years its still worth 20$..
@@TheHollowBladepeople have been doing garage sale game hunting videos and thrift store hunting videos for at least 10 years. For about 7 of those years it was under the radar Then wata and big RUclipsrs started doing their thing
@@TheHollowBladelook up Mr tight white (yes that's his yt user name lool). He's my good yt friend that I've been watching and chatting with for years. Since 2013 at least. He's been doing those videos and reselling for as long as he's had that channel You didn't see prices spike like this until at least 2019
Too bad there are actually idiots paying that for games. If they weren’t the sellers wouldn’t have business and the prices would have to drop. The problem is people paying those prices.
That's okay. The Japanese economy has been stagnant for 35 years whereas the USD and stock market has 10x'd the Japans currency and Nikkei. They are a struggling 3rd world country at this point. Let them rip off the silly Americans that want to collect crappy 16 bit japan games
To the question "Hey Pete is this game really worth $200" the answer is always HELL NO. Not a single game on Earth is worth paying that much money for.
I love how you make RUclips videos more often now. I loved your channel 13 years now so glad you’re still making content
Same.
You finally got to the root of the cause at the very end.
English speakers buying and flipping. Japan isn't stupid. They simply decided to cut out the middleman.
As an added bit of context, my last trip to Japan was in 2018, and CIB Famicom, SFC, and N64 games I got under $20 with a less favorable exchange rate than we have today are pretty much all over $100 even on Yahoo auctions. Anecdotally, this feels like fallout from that $5K purchase of a sealed SMB on Famicom during the height of the WATA pump up. I’m not sure if these sellers think they’re taking advantage of clueless investors, or trying to discourage speculation into Japanese games altogether, but I wouldn’t be surprised by either.
Definitely because of wata
They're trying to break even by selling at these prices that nobody will pay because they were foolish to believe any of that nonsense
Reminds me of the guy who scalped movie tickets that nobody bought from him, and he went crawling back to the theater to try to get a refund. He was denied 😂
Every ebay seller does this. They don't pay attention to sold listings and will only list based on what is listed.
Thanks for talking about this Pete. The outrageous prices has put a damper on collecting.
Seriously?! A Japanese copy of Gran Turismo costs that much?!!! I got a copy of the game at my local store for just around $5. The scalper ruined everything!!!
Seemingly all hobbies, especially collecting, have seen absurd price hikes post pandemic. Some people hope a bubble will pop, but I just don’t think that’s the case for physical media. You have finite goods with an ever larger fanbase, with gaming have exploded over the last 10-20 years. Companies should rerelease more of their titles, that’s the only way I see it cooling off, that and easier emulation.
But emulation is already getting super easy, any bottom end PC or $50 retro handheld can emulate these games, finding them online is even easier - especially if you are one of those who actually care about obscure old titles. The only investment it requires is getting a controller that does them justice.
Beyond any reasonable price ($50?) for a game, this is all about speculation and/or vanity, not enjoying them.
Yea... The pricing is unrealistic (US conventions as well). I have what I have and will simply enjoy what I have. I am no longer an active collector.
Same
Yeah importing is rough if you don’t “know a guy”. eBay is filled with crazy prices. Yahoo Japan has some more decent ones (though some of them are getting high too), but getting a proxy shipper usually ads on crazy fees that makes it not worth it. Sometimes you may get lucky and see someone just trying to offload their imports, but that is few and far between. I miss the good ole days.
Yahoo Japan is crazy now same as ebay pretty much.+$70 to ship a arcade stick I chose $30 for sea 3mo shipping.
Its hard to find good deals because there are some bigger corporations that swept everything and sold them back at high prices
From what I understand, there's a bunch of people in Japan that go to thrift stores and used stores like HardOff, Don Quijote, Super Potato, etc... And then they resell those games on eBay.
I'm pretty sure Japan caught on to a lot of Americans visiting Japan and buying a bunch of Japanese retro games. Some Americans do the same with the intention of reselling back in the US.
This is a common occurrence among other hobbies like model kits & figures too.
With the way the economy is, a lot of people are resorting to reselling and scalping things that people are into.
I guess Americans ruined the retro game scene
It's not just Americans, a lot of Europeans were doing it too.
I've been seeing these price changes basically happening in real time even on Japanese sites like Surugaya. I've had games set up on my wishlist there for a couple years and seeing prices go up has been insane. Now I think the falling value of the yen also has a lot to do with that. Around when the pandemic started 100 yen was about one US dollar. But ever since the pandemic that has dropped immensely. Now 100 yen is only around 69 cents.
But that's obviously not the only reason. I think importing has become far more common in the past few years and sellers are ABSOLUTELY trying to buy and flip games. People are also traveling to Japan again in droves since the borders opened and we've been seeing the effects. I don't think Ebay was ever a great place to go for imports but now it's basically impossible to find any good deals unless you're lucky.
Favorable dollar to yen exchange rate makes the price increase even more dramatic. If something was a ¥1,000 you could hypothetically get it for $10. If they want $100 now, they’re basically saying it’s a ¥14,456 game.
@@Noirevert It doesn't always work this way. Obviously when there's inflation prices are going to go up. It happens here and it happens in Japan. I've seen plenty of games become more expensive in terms of yen, but because of the exchange rate, the prices are still basically the same as a few years ago. But then there are other examples where games just go up like crazy. Inflation has something to do with it but so do other factors which is the point I was trying to make.
I think ebay sellers are conflating that inflation as well as the price increases we're seeing across the board but when you look at Japanese markets the price increases are mostly happening for very expensive games.
Speaking of good deals, you cant find them anymore because some big corporation bought everything and sold them at high prices
Helpful video. Under recommendation I tried buying import Saturn over local copies. Between postage costs and prices being fairly similar to local prices I gave it up quickly. You explained the likely reasons for this situation at the end, it fits.
I got back from Japan a month and a half ago, and the game prices are all over the place. I'm finally getting into PC Engine games, and the prices are 3x from what it was, say, 8-10 years ago, but still more than half the price of what it was on eBay. Even some heavy hitter Sega Saturn games were 50-80% cheaper than the market rate on eBay. I feel like eBay prices for imports are mostly trash. Prices aren't insanely cheap as it was in my past few trips, but it's still drastically cheaper in Japan than here. Though to be fair, I tended to shop far away from Tokyo, or in areas that isn't swarmed with tourists. You can still find deals in Tokyo, but it's not common, and often more expensive than eBay prices.
Never got into import games or import consoles. Can barely keep up with the US stuff lol
I had a very similar thing to your Harmful Park experience happen to me on Ebay with Hana Taka Daka. By the time that issue was resolved, and I got my refund, the game was more than double the value on Ebay.
I totally remember when Koro Koro Post Nin was like $20-$30 brand new. I bought multiple copies and gave them to friends because it was a cool Cameltry clone.
The insane prices increases on ps1 pushed me away from importing shmups/beatmups. It had me looking even harder to find more affordable gaming fun. Recently got Light gun game Mechanical violator Hakaider &Segata Sanshiro on Sega saturn and Pop'n Music vol1-6 PS1 and two controllers on eBay for not much money. Japanese Shop owners getting together to all relist at higher prices is a scary thought.:'/
Seems like they didn’t realize how valuable their games are and now they do. I’m sure there are groups of people doing that though .
That’s crazy about harmful park because the same exact thing happened to me about 8 years ago. I purchased the game twice and the seller from Japan ended up cancelling both times. The prices just continued to rapidly climb
For imports, I went somewhat hard on loose gameboy number of years back. For the shipping prices alone, i stopped.
You’ve also listed them from high to low, so it’s unrealistic.
Pete! Is Serial Experiments Lain actually hard to find? Every Japanese game store I went to seemed to have at least one of them and they're asking crazy prices!
These prices are insane
Retro game collecting to me has become quite an unenjoyable experience. I collected as a Hobby, spending $5-50 here and there to add to my collection. Most of the the most sought after titles I'd like to get have reached $100, $200 or even $300 terriotory now. With a family I can't justifiy the price.
crazy one for me was rally de europe, I paid $15 for mine and at the time thats about what it was everywhere
Sweet I coincidentally requested this haha! Giving it a watch, thanks Pete.
Generally, I don't really like eBay for Japanese imports. It's getting harder to find those deals. I lived in Japan from 2017-19 and my household goods weight coming back was literally 5,000 lbs of video games. =D
I had got my boxed Pokemon N64 for $30, boxed Panasonic Q for $300, tons of great games for extremly cheap - Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire (PCE) for $5 because my local Book Off had no idea what to price PCE games at. The list goes on. I actaully regret assing on Kyuiin for $60 back then too. Point is, yes, in the non-tourist areas of Japan at the time the prices were still quite good. I visited that same area about 6 months ago and, more than likely due to Americans and resellers, a lot of that stuff dried up. The video gaes sections were 25-50% of the size of what they were when I lived there and the selection & prices were not nearly as good. That's over a 5 year period and post-pandemic. I can only imagine the 'gasm busting experience it would have been in the early 2000s.
At least old cartridges are still (mostly) affordable, still lots of mega cheap Famicom, Game Boy, Super Famicom games. Reseller manipulation is crazy
This seems to just be a problem with import games being jacked up on eBay. For example, Winds of Thunder on PCE is currently selling for 120$+ on eBay, while I bought that game on yahoo auction for around 50$ just a couple of months ago where I was the only person who bid for it.
I agree, something most certainly is amiss. There is a disturbance in the force.
The sith are at work
I would say its also foreigners living in Japan selling from there
Interestingly, I actually got a video AD today of a Japanese game seller on eBay. If they have the money to make ads, you know they are making bank. The whole retro game collecting has basically gone down the drain as far as I’m concerned.
I think if you truly want these games to PLAY, you should emulate. Physical collecting has become an investment ‘hobby’
This happened with Little Magic on Super Famicom. Was a $20 Sokoban game until suddenly it became a $70 ask. There goes my chance of owning it
That games probably worth it though....there is a gbc ver too maybe that's cheaper
@@BillB808 lol that one is over $300
I know that NeoGeo Pocket Color games gone up significantly. Look at Big Bang Pro Wrestling for example. Yikes!
But yea, I don't know what the deal is.
I remember watching Lucifer Ring at 80 cents on a bulk back in 2015. Then the seller cancelled the purchase and I saw the game was 150usd. Great game tho! The first game I got for my PS1 when I was a kid in the Jack Sparrow days over here.
I've experienced the price jump with japanese pokemon cards as well
quickly dropping a like and comment for this mad lad. showing my support
my last import purchase was Pepsi Man 4 years ago. It got way too crazy for me even back then. I also always had an inkling about price fixing in Japan. Everyone on ebay was selling at almost exactly the same price. It's super fishy.
If you can compare eBay prices easily so can they lol
@@TheKayliedGamerChannel-RUclips Ah yes, I was wondering when we were gonna get one of the weebs to defend their beloved Japan. Japan is not the utopia you see in anime my dude. It's just like any other countries with its positives and negatives.
Sellers from Japan on eBay are targeting foreign customers. Most of those sellers are actually foreigners living in Japan, not Japanese sellers. No one in Japan uses eBay. So yeah, sellers on eBay are trying to take advantage of you xD
Great Video! Thanks Pete. These types of videos are awesome. Can you make a video of Japanese PS1 games that are affortable but amazing?
Thanks,
This is nuts. Thankful I was able to get a few of the PS1 imports I wanted for good prices 10ish years ago.
Hey Pete whats your thouts on ps4 imports?
I have ben collecting Shooters and platformers
I’d be interested in a ps1 imports video. I know very little but hear all about these amazing shooters and action games. I have a ps3 and mister so always interested in imports worth looking at whether it’s something I can try out on Japanese PSN or go the emulation route.
Yup, Japanese game prices back then were supercheap.
they still are go to gaming conventions, you can find them for cheap. Ebay is not the "TRUE" market.
It may not be, but in this economy, I doubt many people are going to those conventions unless you have money saved up. And a lot of it@@dragongamer2670
@@dragongamer2670really most conventions I used to go to had prices higher than eBay. Typical convention markup. That was years ago though. Have things really changed?
Pete! Is there any chance we can get some updated collection videos? I’d love to see what you’ve acquired over the years. I still watch your old collection videos to fall asleep too.
I started noticing this about a year and a half ago. Some shops in jp will actually make a online shop for english users, while keeping the Jp one separated. They will inflate the price for english buyers.
Its getting crazy out there.
A price can only get up if there are idiots buying
That isn't true. A great recent example is Germs for PS1. Last copy on ebay sold for 800USD. Then to fill the void hit-japan put up the same copy in two seperate listings at a price of 1900USD. When I confronted them about it they said that they couldn't see the previously sold listing and had priced it fairly. Pete is right about them cornering the market and jacking up the prices for no good reason other than greed.
Great video! It's a shame that JP prices have risen so much. It previously was a place to find lots of gems that either didn't make it to the west or had become insanely expensive here. Do you import many modern titles? I've been bringing a fair amount from asian over for my switch. Still a thrill seeing the different language box in my collection. Thanks for the video!
So many videos man this is great
Initial D for the PS3 is the only Japanese Import I have ever bought. Never understood the appeal. I get frustrated just navigating Initial D's menus and its a freaking racing game.
I used to love collecting Japanese ps1 games. Ever since Covid prices went stupid and then shipping became like $20 per game
It's happening with so many other types of products too. For example, I like vintage Swatch watches, but they've skyrocketed in price since covid and it's now become unaffordable to collect them as a hobby, and sellers are also charging insane shipping fees.
I don't think there is a conspiracy by Japanese sellers to push the price of certain games. Most likely it is as you said they are working against resellers. Also it is possible that some games receive a spike in popularity and can shoot up overnight through trends in Japan that we are unaware of. Usually happens with any game that is played on Game Center CX.
How much Gamera 2000 cost
My experience is the 'or best offer' option can result in them accepting WAY below the asking price. I've not yet had one of my low ish best offers refuses. Low ish in comparison to their asking price. I mostly buy PS3 games from japan
Really? I’ve yet to get one single counter offer from a Japanese seller that wasn’t less than 8% off the asking price, if they countered at all. Wasn’t even lowballing them.
Edit: wait no there was one who accepted my offer. The sale was then cancelled and I got an apology as the seller’s “boss” didn’t want to accept a lower price. Then why have a best offer option on your auction 😂
@@Dusty_B hehe. Your experience and mine differ. My offers are auto accepted instantly which always makes me think I should have tried harder and gone lower.
I would expect that if these marked up import games aren't selling for as much they are asking for, over time the sellers will start undercutting, and prices that are being listed should find a new and lower equilibrium. But clearly this isn't happening, which is a bit strange IMO. Maybe these agreed on prices can stay so high because of the japanese culture? As in, they won't undercut out of respect of the agreed price?
Its been awhile but I remember collecting saturn in early 2000s the games were already triple digits but you could get import versions for 20-30 bucks. I stopped collecting a long time ago sadly its just too expensive-so much better from a tech and availability stand point though!
Personally, I think that this is a combination of things (aside from what seems to be some obvious price fixing):
USDJPY disparity remains high; currently at 144 Yen to the USD, where traditionally is was closer to 100 Yen for many years. This probably prompted savvy US buyers to buy directly from Japanese sources (like Yahoo Japan) instead of US eBay, and you can be sure that Japanese sellers have been noticing a lot of purchases from those "Middleman" outlets.
The above disparity has probably been fueling a lot of US resellers to buy from there, given the buying power the USD affords them right now.
The effect of this inflation disparity is just forcing sellers to charge more to make up for this deficit, so yeah, they will maximize their earnings as much as they can get away with - and owing to my early comment, if wouldn't be surprising if a lot of vendors who transact online are colluding to help each other out.
And finally, you have to figure to some degree with some of the more popular sought after games that, yes, we are probably looking at diminishing supply, given how long US buyers have been consuming Japanese inventory all these years.
What are your thoughts on grading games?
They are scams. Dont ever grade your games
Graded games are great for sealed as long as it rare .. def increased value a lot on what I had nes and snes
Since last I knew, older games and consoles in Japan were far cheaper than western retro stuff- though NTSC vs PAL also have deviation. It's gonna just be a dead end hobby due to scalping for the next golden goose of price-gouging.
And a heads up to fellow collectors/retro gamers: Einhander, Klonoa, and Trap Gunner are crazy cheap compared to US versions, also highly payable JP versions (Einhander and Trap Gunner largely in English)
You’re not kidding, as someone who goes to Japan every year and has been for a long time, the prices have gotten wild.
I have a bunch of friends there now and they can still get things for a better price but not much these days.
These days you don’t go to Japan to look for games because it’s not worth it. Go for the sights and the food.
Hope no one from Japan is watching but you scrolled by Panzer Bandit for like $120 and it’s one of the best import PS1 games out there, hasn’t gone up in like 7 years and absolutely worth the asking price.
Would you like to go back to Japan? Even with the crazy prices etc
I find your Japan vlogs some of your most relaxing videos!
Great video Pete!
Game prices in japan stores have skyrocketed... So its the knock on effect.
Also years of importers abroad and stuff lost thru export of supply is also a possibility. The world has surely sucked a huge chunk of the quality retro games out of japan the last 15 years... its not an infinite supply chain.
Did yal hear EL Shaddai is getitng an HD remaster. I just preordered mine.
These prices arent even games that are sold, wre they? Anyone can ask for any price they want, doesnt mean anything
I got a import copy of pokemon platinum (japanese CIB copy) from a us seller for 49.99$ while the NTSC copy was going for hundreds of dollars
I also got a Japanese import ds lite refurbished for 55.99 when the American consoles are going for 100$ plus
All within the last month or so
I think it also depends on how rare the game is to start with. Love you pete
You need to find out what they're actually going for. Not looking at absurd BIN prices or starting bids Ebay.
The prices will go down again when people simply stop paying these crazy prices.
too much greed nowadays.
just emulate
Did MetalJesus or some other RUclipsr post a video about Harmful Park between it going from $100 to $300? Because I have seen that happen many times. And then people complain its Ebay sellers… Sellers can only sell at a price people are willing to buy at. Buyers need to chill out as well if they want prices to calm down. Is it possible for a seller to lock the market? For some games maybe, and probably on obscure imports it is more likely. But they still need a buyer to pay up. I’m also a collector and this is just my take.
Gaming is a rich persons hobby now it’s sad just miss the days of walking in a store and leaving with a handful of games and some money left in the wallet lol
You HAVE to stay away from eBay regarding imports. It's a total joke. Its very evident that a group in Japan is trying to corner the market to completely rig gaijin buyers. I've been buying my imports elsewhere where the prices are fairer than this crap. I will say, just in the past year to two years, even at the fair priced places stuff has gone up tremendously. I took a trip back to Japan last year (went before COVID too), there were some things I was just amazed even what places like Hard Offs were charging. They know what they got now, and stupid people are ponying up.
EBay inflation … Standard
the dude selling harmful park had 0% feedback.... damn
To some extent, most of the games are still cheap in Japan. No crazy prices on sfc, n64, gc like here (but exceptions).
I just emulate now. I can't hang with these prices.
I love your content, keep up the fantastic job.
Looks like some very good Japan ps1 exclusives are still cheap. Devilman, Gear fighter dendoh.. these are actually very good games and not expensive
Stuff was cheap-ish even 4-5 years ago. Things went through the roof in the past couple years and I'm glad I'm not looking anymore
Also wow yamatoku never came back after 2020
This videos chill me out
Every single listing on eBay right now is being dropshipped by a reseller in Japan. They take any given "buy it now" yahoo Japan or mercari listing and relist it on eBay at 2.5-3x the price.
They don't actually own anything they are selling. They wait until their eBay listing sells, then they pay for the domestic Japanese listing. Zero risk involved. That's what happened with the Harmful park you bought. The original Japanese listing was gone by the time you bought it on eBay, so the reseller had to refund you.
There is no evil scheme at play, or collusion happening in the Japanese collecting community. Demand has increased for these exponentially over the past decade and that's being compounded by the fact that you've been looking at the absolute worst possible way to buy these games.
This guy gets it.
The insane prices of retro games are what made me stop collecting. I just can't bring myself to pay 4x or more what a game cost on its release when its freely available to emulate. Is it the same experience? no. Is the original experience worth $200-$1000. Not a chance.
Could be worse it could be UK ebay. The cheapest copy of Harmful Park is £437 which is around $550, but most copies are £500+ ($633) its a joke
Your suggestion that these sellers communicate (or at least watch each other closely) is probably correct. A tip if you're seriously eying something is to place it in your watch list, some sellers will then offer a discount, and you can also counter-offer.
Soniku. I remember your videos in japan lol
Who would pay these ridiculous amounts anymore?
Same reason why for a few years certain people thought Mario 64 sealed was worth a million dollars even if it was "graded". So many people in the retro game community are not the brightest of stars, I'll tell you that
They bought it just because they want to brag and be a show off. Those youtubers always do that
Import is that bad (2nd hand matket).. that its preferable to do best offers on people selling imports.. domestically and be patient..
There trying to Capitalize on the Americans . Especially bc alot of times our versions are so much .
Chase after the right price and all the youtubers are doing the same shit to these America games
Japan's retro games have been strip mined by western gamers i bet it pisses them off a lot
Japanese sellers are the worst on ebay they will use someone else's product pic of a nice condition item then send you nothing near as good condition.Then you you have to go thru the hassle of returning it ,leave negative feedback then ebay will remove your negative feedback ??? and some poor sucker after you get's to go thru it.I know I will never own harmful park,adventures of little ralph that is why I encourage people to contact limited run like I do to make it.
Jokes on them. Nobody is going to pay these prices.
It's definitely interesting but I honestly stick to my belief that the VG market is currently totally fake and the vast majority of these games *are not selling*. People are not buying these games. Do an experiment - pick some high price games and keep an eye on them and see if they ever sell - I really don't think most of them do. Flippers have basically gone ham buying up all the stock in the deluded hope they will make loads of money.
AMERICAN GREED IS RUINING INTEGRITY WTF. this absolutely sucks! :(
TELLEM PETE!
it isn't just imports my guy. It is anything on Ebay. Just saying.. just because idiots on Ebay want to Charge for $9K for a game. Doesn't make it so.. Look at what is actually Selling and what Collectors are actually selling stuff for in other markets. People need to get smart and just stop buying and the prices will easily Fall.
Ive said, game collecting died when it became popular on youtube.. Now you have guys who make vlogs of themselvs going to all garage sales every weekend buying up anything they can find from some mom who has no idea what shit is worth to then flip it for some stupid insane price.. And these dudes will stock up on trunks full of shit, bins and bins of duplicates they gather to then sell for full price. Im surprised the japanese market took this long to catch up..
I can 100% see a complete crash on retro collecting in the next 5 years or so.. These prices are absolutely stupid now, even common games that are not sport games are expensive.
What annoys me is that almost all nerdy hobbies that involve collecting have become about the investment and not about the fun within the hobby. When buying a game its not "fuck yea this game is going to be so fun to play" its "man if i buy this now for 30$ i hope in 3 years i can sell it for 90!"
The same bullshit happen to Magic the gathering, it went from "its fun to get together with friends and play some mtg" to "If i buy this box for 150$ i better be able to flip its contents for 400$ or this is a god damn scam!" from "dude this card is so good" to "fuck yea my 20$ card is now worth 200$, im going to put it in a binder and hope that in 2 years i can sell it for 500!"
And im not even saying that prices should forever stay low, that makes no sense, but this idea of these hobbies being about investment possibilities is a massive turn off. I dont care if my 20$ game is worth 200$ in 2 years from now, ill be just as happy with my game if in 2 years its still worth 20$..
@@TheHollowBladepeople have been doing garage sale game hunting videos and thrift store hunting videos for at least 10 years. For about 7 of those years it was under the radar
Then wata and big RUclipsrs started doing their thing
@@TheHollowBladelook up Mr tight white (yes that's his yt user name lool). He's my good yt friend that I've been watching and chatting with for years. Since 2013 at least. He's been doing those videos and reselling for as long as he's had that channel
You didn't see prices spike like this until at least 2019
Too bad there are actually idiots paying that for games. If they weren’t the sellers wouldn’t have business and the prices would have to drop. The problem is people paying those prices.
@@Dusty_B Right like I said.. but again look at what is actually selling. Not what people are asking.
✨⭐✨💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕✨⭐✨
That's okay. The Japanese economy has been stagnant for 35 years whereas the USD and stock market has 10x'd the Japans currency and Nikkei. They are a struggling 3rd world country at this point. Let them rip off the silly Americans that want to collect crappy 16 bit japan games
Lmao it's a god damn cartel
To the question "Hey Pete is this game really worth $200" the answer is always HELL NO. Not a single game on Earth is worth paying that much money for.