It looks like someone is trying to corner the market for Sculptor's Cut by buying a bunch of copies.
On April 21st, someone with the user name m***m and 486 feedback, bought 8 copies of ClayFighter Sculptor's Cut. That was every single copy of the game available at the time.
Here are the 9 items and their prices:
$135.00 - see it
$174.99 - see it
$189.95 - see it
$129.95 - see it
$199.99 - see it
$199.99 - see it
$180.00 - see it
$179.99 - see it
m***m also bid on one ClayFighter auction but was outbid at $222. That price is 10% more than the next highest sales price ever seen for this game.
With this buying spree the price increased from $135 in March to $176 in April. The intentions of m***m are unknown, but their actions have definitely increased the price for other collectors.
Only time will tell if this price sticks or is just a temporary spike. All the Sculptor's Cuts listed on eBay right now have starting prices of $180. Will there be any buyers?
15 comments :
So the question is, Do I sell my copy now or wait and see what happens.
I always wonder why people never did this before. Lol. Its just shows a flaw in pricecharting system itself. Have a bunch of of cheaper low print games, buy/bid it up to desire price three times. Gray MM was $50 for years until one group push it over $1000 three times. Guess where it hovers now?
@anonymous - We do not create the market for any of these games. We simply report on the market.
The supply and demand determines the prices. If nobody buys the ClayFighters listed on eBay right now at the $180 prices, then sellers will quickly lower their prices back down and the 'correct' price will be determined.
We are no more responsible for the price fluctuations for a game than the Wall Street Journal is for Apple's stock performance over the last decade.
We report the prices, we do not create them.
I wasn't accusing your site or store of this. Just some members on certain forums of this, not you guys. The flaw is just like you addressed. Reporting and averaging the sales can be altered be groups. Just like Wall Street and gold's recent drop. One person or group can double or cut the market if they chose all it takes is inventory and cash.
"We are no more responsible for the price fluctuations for a game than the Wall Street Journal is for Apple's stock performance over the last decade."
Of course the Wall Street Journal (and other media coverage) *does* affect stock performance (although not meaningfully, over a decade).
I would argue this site and other retro game sites also likely can move the market, in the short term, at least.
That certainly doesn't make you responsible, JJ, nor does it mean you should stop covering the activity or publishing price charts, just as any reasonable person would argue holds true for the WSJ.
The video game market is definitely much more susceptible to short term price swings than markets like stocks, gold, etc because they are traded on a much smaller volume.
A game like ClayFighter Sculptor's Cut has fewer than 10,000 copies in existence. And maybe only 5-10 available for sale at one one time.
One person buying every copy will increase the price very quickly in the short term.
This increase in price will happen with or without PriceCharting.
We definitely spread price information through the market faster so buyers and sellers can react to changes in market conditions. But I don't think we change supply and demand meaningfully.
If I were to write an article saying "Buy Earthbound - Prices Will Double in 2 Months". That might affect prices but we try to stay away from that type of article.
So do I sell my copy now or later?
Short term, if I had a copy I would sell it. I think it is a temporary bump and the market will correct.
Long term, I think it will get more expensive.
Just look at the seller's feedback that was left for the buyer to determine the real identity of m***m. If m***m lists anything themself, put in one bid from a dump account and do a contact info request, which you will now be able to do because you have bid on an item of theirs. This gives you their real name and phone number.
really glad i got my copy in a partial trade, for an asking value less than what they're going for right now.
the manual on the other hand...i really hope that drops out of the insane territory, or i'll never complete my complete CIB N64 set.
@ Anonymous
If you haven't found Yoshi's Story International Version, then you will never complete your N64 set.
This is the buyer who bought all of those carts for anyone who was curious: http://myworld.ebay.com/yunoshipmyitem
They like to buy a LOT of skateboarding stickers and bubble mailers!
They haven't sold anything on eBay recently and nothing is currently for sale.
Maybe they just REALLY like the game?
:P
Instagram @bernardonuts #clayfighter
Yep just checked the instagram. Not sure if it's really the guy, could be looking for attention. If he's posting this now and it for real, maybe he's got something up his sleeve.
@anonymous - That definitely looks legit.
here is the photo of all the games for anyone who wants the direct link.
I wonder what is plans are for them?
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