Repairing Old NES Systems For Fun and Profit // How I turned a Hobby Into an eBay Business
Games were my Life
Just over 10 years ago, fresh out of college with a B.A. in English, I turned my love of video games into a small online business that moved about $10,000 per year in inventory. Video games have always been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. From playing Pac-Man
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Pitfall, and Missle Command at my neighbor's house when I was six years old, to uninvitedly entering another neighbors house when they weren't home to use their old TANDY computer for Drug Wars. This was desperate behavior, but I didn't have a computer of my own (or a gaming console at that time), and other than a bit of electricity and some snacks, I really didn't hurt anything.
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Starting the Business
The business started out small enough. I began by purchasing lots of NES consoles and games on eBay, replacing the 72 pin connector--the part that fails in the front load systems and makes the console blink-- and then reselling the console and games at a premium. Back in 2007 and 2008, it was very possible to pick up a NES console that blinked, along with 10-20 games for about $100 at auction. By repairing the NES, giving it a good spit-shine, and pairing the console with choice titles like the Mario trilogy, Tetris, and Dr. Mario, I could turn the $100 investment into $150 or 200$ depending on the quality of the games in the collection.
It wasn't uncommon to pick up a collection with the whole Mario trilogy, break even on the reselling of that with the console, and have a whole stack of games leftover for profit. The main problem with the business was that it competed with my hardcore World of Warcraft playing, something that took 8-16 hours a day back then (I actually miss it. I played with a group of friends and we all made Gladiator status in the arena.)
WOW interferance aside, I really didn't know how to scale the business up without working at it full-time, and I ended up moving right as things were really getting rolling with inventory and sales and sold most of what I'd amassed in bulk, thus losing the individual premium I would normally garner.
I still sell on eBay from time to time when I need a few hundred dollars and have the patience to fiddle with the listing and shipping, but I miss those early days selling games and playing WOW. I made a lot less money than I do now, but I was doing what I loved.
Games have lost their hold on me these days. I rarely play for more than 15 minutes in a day with little about them holding my interest. In part, it is because I viewed them as a bit of a dead end. I always enjoyed playing competitively, and while I generally could get to the top of the games I played hardcore, I never was able to successfully monetize my play. During my early WOW days, when I was in the top 1% of players in the world, it was actually illegal to show videos of gameplay on youtube, and there was no other was for us to monetize except for professional play, and without a sponsor, we couldn't travel--even though we did beat one professional three-man team on our server regularly and remotely-qualified for one major event.
I actually miss playing a lot, but they just don't give me the same pleasure that they used to. Still, even just looking at these old pictures of mine makes me smile. Games clearly have shaped a large part of my psyche and continue to influence my view on the world (that it is boring and in need of games) even to this day.
Image sources: Giphs downloaded from Giphy.com, all other images are my own.
I'm going to share this post on my Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook timelines. I know lots of gamers who'd love this post.
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Thank you @dickturpin
i can freaking relate @lilrut bro ..me and my siblings weren't blessed with game consoles growing up back then as well,we used to go to friend's and game centres for COD and FIFA..These days,there's no time to play only if i could make money playing then i'm all in.
Yeah the good old friends or neighbors who could afford to buy the new consoles and games. Same for me, no time for playing besides a little bit of the nintendo switch.
I've found that little games that can hold my interest for 10 or 15 minutes are the best option for me these days.
im exactly this same way these days, i want a 2-15 minute game..
I didn't own a console of my own until I was 12, so I hear ya. It was fun going to friends houses to play though, especially fighting games.
DUDE now that we have established a possible niche of video game consoles u should show how u can mod an old NES to play EVERY old NESD game plsu other old games by making urown MAME box or somethin maybe using rasberry pie or something
u should also show modded NES console projects liek with LEDs and have a Vaporwave NES or steempunk NES
u should have steem on an OLD nes by enabling a web browser on teh NES
or osmething rediculous like that
maybe build ur own steem browser on an old rasberry pi with LCD and make ur own steemit box i dunno
maybe make a STEEMIT box just a small computer with HDMI and u plug into an HDMi and u can just use a browser and use it to post to steemit! hah
Those are all great ideas. We will see how it goes.
"How much would you say you like video games?"
"To the point where I would break and enter so I could play at a neighbour's house."
Great post. The "normal" Nintendo was a big part of my childhood. I loved played Paperboy, Mike Tyson's Knockout, Ninja Turtles, and of course the classics Mario (especially Dr. Mario) and Zelda. Not to mention some of the Final Fantasy games I also enjoyed.
What's your favourite game from the NES console?
I liked every game you listed. Some of the ones that stand out in addition to those are Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Rygar, Castlevania (all of them), Werewolf, Basewars, and later Street Fighter and Clay Fighter on the SNES. Once the SNES came around, I was pretty obsessed with fighting games. Actually, fighters are among the few games I still play. I put in about an hour a week on Tekken 7, still playing Nina like I did in Tekken 3.
Thanks for the comment!
I think our childhood was the best time of all
I miss my childhood alot
It's a difficult thing growing older and learning how to accept and embrace life for what it is. After writing this post, though, I played Hearthstone for a couple hours, something I haven't done in nearly a year, so I think writing it was cathartic.
yeah exactly
and I collect HOTWHEELS :P
Seems like an awesome hobby!
Great hobby, not the best way to make money, though :)
Nice Game
I thought you could repair each cartridge by simply blowing on it haha. The old legendary belief!
Nice pics. Mega Man really was my no.1 game for the NES back then.
Life of kid’s today have completely changed from what we used to live in 90’s. We had an awesome childhood!!
I miss this life!
I miss the companionship of playing with the group of people I played with the most.
As the saying goes (I read somewhere), seasons change, life changes too.
All of us has a season in life even with different hobbies and different friends even, and as time goes by, directions can change all we need to do is keep moving forward.
At least you have a fond memory, and that is one of the important things in life.
Keep it up.
upvoted
I now get some pleasure out of watching my kids play games. I limit it much more than the amount I played when I was a get, though. Thanks for the comment.