What is the cheapest thing you got that should've been way more expensive?

[Ricken]

a 'bricked' O3dsXL for free

It was bricked, but it had an 8GB SD card with a NAND backup and the newbie I got it from thought they bricked from A9LH

I fixed it (noice arm9loaderhax.bin you forgot there) and pwned it off to someone as a present

 

[endoverend]

Wasn't there just a thread about this? https://gbatemp.net/threads/whats-the-greatest-deal-you-ever-got-on-a-game-console.427563/

 

[the_randomizer]

A new PS3 120 GB Slim (which, unfortunately, was forced to sell two years ago) -_- I traded in a bunch of games for it and only had to spend 120 bucks for a 250 dollar system.

 

[daxtsu]

A factory sealed copy of Super Mario 3D Land from Goodwill for around $6 back in 2012 or 2013. That Goodwill had just bought out a mom & pop game shop I think, since they had a bunch of other goodies too.

 

[Real_Redwolf]

My cousin gave me his collection of GameCube games, which included a copy of that one Fire Emblem game that costs an arm and leg and had a perfect condition disk, manual, and game case.

Funny thing is, I've never actually played a Fire Emblem game before.

 

[Dorimori]

I got an Archangel Avacyn MtG card out of a booster pack. 3 dollars for a pack, 30 for the card. It's not as good as the other posts here, but hey, I use it.

 

[GalladeGuy]

That time I found $10 on a bus seat and gave it to my friend for his copy of Pokemon Heart Gold.

 

[Justinde75]

Ps2 with 2 Controllers, 34 games and a really big stack of Ps1 games/Demo Discs for 15€
There were even some special editions/limited editions

 

[Watertoon]

I scored a free pokemon diamond because it read garbage on every ds (around 5 different consoles) my friend tried it on except mine, which always worked perfect with it.

 

[DKB]

A Wii U for 120 dollars + 13$ shipping. It's still being shipped. Hopefully it works.

 

[TheLittlestBowl]

A complete copy of Zombie Nation on NES for $1 from a rental place that was selling everything off.

 

[Red9419]

I got a PS3 Slim+ 10 games + 2 controllers for 100$ because the owner was getting bad grades in school .
I downgraded it and sold most of the games (After copying them onto my hard drive of course ) so i basically got it for free and got some profit out of it.

 

[leerz]

2012
ds phat for 10$
psp3k for 63$

2013
xbox jasper jtag 500gb for 170$
ps3slim jb 500gb 212$

2016
wiiu 127$

 

[axemurderer]

I got a mechanical keyboard for $0.99 shipped. it's razer so it's normally pretty overpriced at something like $80.

 

[takieda]

I got a mechanical keyboard for $0.99 shipped. it's razer so it's normally pretty overpriced at something like $80.

found 4 IBM Model M's in a dumpster (I was looking specifically for them - the guy that threw them out told me about it).

But otherwise, in non technology arena, I'd have to say for $15 a dive bag, but, without the store's understanding of what they had, a complete set of dive gear. Real world value was around $800.

In gaming, a vacuum cleaner box for $20. Same store as above, and inside was an original Nintendo Entertainment system (unboxed), and a slew of games, all complete in box, including Super Mario Brothers, SMB 3, Legend of Zelda, Legend of Zelda 2 (both Zelda games were the original Gold cartridge releases), SMB & Duck Hunt, Mario Golf, Excitebike, and several other games. It also had 4 standard controllers, an NES Satellite, 2 Nintendo Advantages, the original grey zapper (before they had to switch to orange for "safety" reasons), a dysfunctional R.O.B. toy (which I took apart, cleaned up, and then it worked - batteries had failed and a lot of whatever's inside had leaked out all over the toy).

Best deal I almost got. Brand new, never opened, Final Fantasy for the NES for $5. I *GOT* it for $5, but the SOB behind the counter OPENED IT, to make sure that everything was in the box. He thought it'd been resealed. I still have the seal - it's the original H seal on the back that CAN'T be faked or reproduced. Value now, in current condition around $60 - 80, value if it had never been opened $300+.

2 Famicom Edition Game Boy Micro's, brand new in box, for $15 each from a store that was going out of business. A lot of 7 Dreamcasts for $35 (still have 2) that ended up mostly working (5 good ones, 1 functional but the lid was messed up, and one that wouldn't power on). a mega crap ton of Dreamcast accessories and games, (though I've lost my favorite of the bunch, which was Seaman with the microphone - I have no idea where it disappeared to) in a lot for $100 (20+ games and numerous accessories, all original Sega branded, including 4 standard VMU's, 4 colored VMUs, 2 grey controllers, 1 blue 1 red controller, 1 rumble pack, keyboard, mouse, sega bass fishing controller - works in almost all games, it's hillarious). The only peripherals I'm missing for my collection now (that I don't have at least 1 of) are the Seaman microphone, and the broadband adapter.

Also snagged a $1000~ HTPC by ASrock for $225 from a pawn shop. Bought a Monster's Inc. Sullivan dressed as Santa Claus for $3.75 and sold it for $75 later that month. Bought 2 Balto plush (the small and the large) for $2 each, and sold the large one for $80 (needed the money sadly), which was valued at $125 at the time. The small one is still worth about $80-90.

I bought the world's first HD-DVD / Blu-Ray player (at the time MSRP was $1500 I think - might have been closer to $1000), for $75 at a salvage center. The box was water damaged, but the product was fine.

I do a LOT of this kind of shopping, so the list goes on. For those that think that I'm very lucky - it's kind of lucky, but considering the sheer amount of time I've spent shopping with NO success, it kind of evens out a bit. I'm still amazed at the diving gear and the NES lot - same store, same day. Later that month, I found an diving scooter missing it's cowl (it works, just needs the outer plastic to make it waterproof), and was about $3000, that I got for $15 ish from that store. Unfortunately, company went out of business, so I keep looking for broken models just to get the cowl on it.

 

[yacepi15]

Bayonetta 1 and 2 pack brand new in GAME for 23€

 

[joyoshi]

Wasn't there just a thread about this? https://gbatemp.net/threads/whats-the-greatest-deal-you-ever-got-on-a-game-console.427563/

Kinda. But this is just in general, not just game consoles. Maybe I shouldn't have started it off with a gaming-related thing.

 

[astrangeone]

Box of five cuban cigars that had been waterlogged. I stuck them in a box with a few dehumidifiers (the silica gel packets), and then re-hydrated them by putting them in a box with proper moisture control. Took about 2 months of get them back to normal, but I ended up enjoying every last one. (Wish I had some left now.) My cost was $5, while each cigar cost about $20 each, so I made $95....

 

[Nikki_swap]

earthbound cartridge for 2 bucks at a yard sale

 

[keven3477]

ps2 for 5$.