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Everything retro - big and small! Live from Perth, Australia!

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Is Cash Converters Finally Redeeming its Self?


I've been having a really hard time with op-shops lately - they're full of The Sims expansions and Bali copies of PSone games (pirated copies for clarification) but there's been nothing of worth to pick-up. It's almost getting frustrating; the last time I had any real luck was way back in February. I do realise this is what op-shopping is all about - lots of leg work equals cheap rewards but damn it, this is getting ridiculous. In the five years I've been operating Retro Game On (April 6th was the big day, I should add) I've never had a bout of nothingness this long. It's because of this, I was forced into a Cash Converters. Oh, the horror.

Way back in the February of last year, I went on a mild rant about Cash Converters and how they're trying to be the go-to place for retro games. I won't go into too much detail here but basically, they went from being a super cheap and convenient place to buy games (a chain I'd been shopping at for years I should add) to overly expensive and not worth my time and thus Dollarydoos.
With myself experiencing the drought I am however, I puckered up my butt for high prices and gave it a shot.

Everything you see in the photo above except for The Saboteur was bought from Cashies, with the shop visit going something like this: I entered, and spied the three games I was interested in noting that Shadowgate for the NES was a bit too pricey for my tastes. The price for The Flintstones on Mega Drive was also hidden (it was on the bottom of the cartridge, which was facing front-up in the locked cabinet). I promptly asked an employee for help, first asking about The Flinstones price. Surprisingly, his answer was "How much do you think it's worth?". Myself being very much a fan of $5 games of course, answered $5. The guy flipped it over, and what do you know, it was priced at $5. I wished I had said something lower at that point, but as you'll soon know this won't matter.
We then moved to another cabinet where Shadowgate and Lode Runner 3D for N64 were being held, and I immediately requested Lode Runner. This had a $15 price tag on it, which I guess isn't too bad, but my plan was to pay full price for that and The Flintstones in the hope of getting a discount on Shadowgate. I asked for a better price, he let me offer, and I said $12. Reasonable, I would think. Still too much really, but hey, I'm not ignorant to the prices of NES games and a stupid low-ball would likely get me nowhere.
To the offer, the employee actually didn't say anything. He simply took the games out of the cabinet and took them to the counter. I thought this was a bit weird, but even with my terrible math skills, I knew if he excepted the offer the grand total would be $32. This was not the case however, as he asked for $24. In a totally un-Cashies way, he ended up giving me Lode Runner 3D for free.
I don't know why, and I didn't really want to question it but I know it wasn't a mistake because he added it wouldn't have a warranty. I made a lame joke about cleaning it until it worked and high-tailed out of there before he changed his mind.
I'm not sure if this is the kind act of one sole employee, or if the company as a whole has changed their policy - but regardless, I sure as heck ain't complaining. And on that note, they'll likely see my business again soon.
Hopefully, this is the start of rekindled relationship between us, Cash Converters.

I guess I should also add The Saboteur to this post too since I included it in the photo. That cost $10 from a competitor. Yep, PS3 games have hit the $10 threshold. What a time to be alive.
I also bought Red Dead Redemption on the Xbox 360 for $5, which is even more amazing (considering it included the instruction manual as well as the map) but not as surprising since the 360 officially got the can from Microsoft this week.
I don't own a 360, at least not yet, but I do own this on PS3 and bought it when it first came out. I have played it twice since then and love the game to bits. The reason I bought it on 360 though, was because after the possible leak of a sequel or prequel to Red Dead I got really excited and wouldn't shut-up about it to my girlfriend. She's never played it, so hence now has her own copy :)


3 comments:

  1. Cash Converters over here in the UK is just full of outdated PS2 football games, great find!

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    1. Heh, for the most part they are here too. I always seemed to get lucky with PSone games at mine back in the day though (before they went crazy on the prices).

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  2. They always ruin cases/covers with those bloody stickers (even putting them on 7" vinyl LABELS) - yet they still think a boxed copy of Sonic the Hedgehog is worth $50. At the same store a month earlier where I got Mortal Kombat MD for $5 boxed.. seems random and you never know how much of a rip off it will be. The prices sure are getting worse though. I wouldn't pay $20 for a cashies Shadowgate with no dust cover, manual or box...

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