By 2007, they'll be $8500 apiece

June 6, 2006 1:38 PM

eBay Supply & Demand question: I'm trying to get hold of some Gamecube Component video cables, which have recently gone out of production and are going for outlandish auction prices. If I wait it out, will demand decrease and the prices go down, or will this item just become even harder to find and therefore even more expensive?

I want component cables for my Gamecube, but in the recent past Nintendo has ceased production of them. These things were not plentiful to begin with, and there are no third-party alternatives to my knowledge.

For several weeks I have been repeatedly outbid on eBay (as I refuse to go any higher than a particular price I have set for myself), and I've watched as auction prices routinely go to twice, and in some cases even three times the original worth. Not to mention the often extortionistic shipping costs.

So, yeah; I guess I'm just wondering if this is going to get worse or better as time goes on. I'm a patient guy - I can keep waiting if need be.

Also, sub-question: Is there a better way to get these things?

posted by Monster_Zero to shopping (17 comments total)

i will give the videogame store i used to work at a ring in the morning. if they have one in stock ill sell you it for cost.
posted by moochoo at 1:46 PM on June 6, 2006

I'm assuming you are talking about the HDTV one? (digital AV to HDTV)
posted by cleverusername at 1:48 PM on June 6, 2006

You could also try a sniping service (like justsnipe) to see if you can win one of the auctions without getting into a bidding war.
posted by Sheppagus at 1:50 PM on June 6, 2006

In my experience with eBay, bidding early is a surefire way to not only pay more but to lose more frequently because my impatience caused me to quickly ramp up the bidding past the point where I was willing to continue.

Worse, it's like a positive feedback loop: you get frustrated and your impatience quickens. Next time around you bid even faster!

If you want to pay the lowest cost, wait it out. If you're patient and the article is sold fairly frequently, you'll quickly guage the highs and lows of the true market value of the item. And you'll learn to look out for the parasitic sellers with shady, abnormally high shipping and handling fees.

I saved $65 on a normally $350 avg. expresso machine by waiting out for the low end of the price variance and buying from an honest seller. Patience pays.
posted by Mr. Six at 1:52 PM on June 6, 2006

You'd think at $40 apiece (average price i observed) you'd get a third party manufacturer.
posted by electroboy at 2:00 PM on June 6, 2006

Ebay prices for the Dreamcast broadband adapter have only gone up since I started looking at them--and similarly with, for example, Rez, where prices stayed fairly high until the reprinted edition arrived. The best guess is probably that demand will decrease over time, but supply will decrease more sharply.

It's long surprised me that there isn't a third party manufacturer. Will the Wii use the same A/V cables as the SNES and GC? Is a Nintendo component video cable the kind of thing that I could make myself?
posted by box at 2:05 PM on June 6, 2006

Also consider that waiting means you don't have the cables for some period of time, which surely has some "cost" to you, even if it's not monetary. In other words, buy them now, and you'll forget the cost in a week and just be happy with your purchase.
posted by smackfu at 2:16 PM on June 6, 2006

I paid $35 or $40 for mine new about 2 years ago when lik-sang still had them, so though the prices you're seeing ARE ridiculous, I don't think they're going to go down much in the next 5 years.

Also, be sure your GameCube can even use it; revision 3 Gamecubes don't have the so-called digital A/V port. Though this may be because the cables were always prohibitively expensive and very difficult to find!
posted by aubilenon at 2:35 PM on June 6, 2006

Play-asia seems to have some in stock, still expensive, but I believe they are going for even more new on ebay.
posted by lucien at 2:39 PM on June 6, 2006

This is a vague recollection, but someone on Something Awful posted about a month ago that he was able to find component cables for the Gamecube at the Nintendo store in New York. That might be a lead to pursue if you can find someone in NYC to check and if they haven't sold out by now.
posted by MegoSteve at 3:21 PM on June 6, 2006

lucien's got it - Play-Asia's your cheapest option right now, as far as I know. From having a good squint at the back of the display units shown at E3, it looks as though the Wii is most likely going to use the same cables (Nintendo have used the same multi-AV design since the SNES), so if you're prepared to hold on until October-ish, compatible cables may well be really common again.

Of course, if you're planning to get a Wii anyway, don't forget that it's going to run all Gamecube games out of the box - I've been holding off buying a GC component cable for a while now on the basis that I'll be connecting my Wii that way, and component cables for it won't be so extortionately priced whether or not they're compatible with the Cube.
posted by terpsichoria at 4:35 PM on June 6, 2006

I had a multi-cable adapter for the GC, X-Box and PS2 which had component outs, but it plugged into the normal GC port. Would that not work?
posted by yerfatma at 4:39 PM on June 6, 2006

They were expensive because the GC's output is actually digital, and the component cable had an A/D chip embedded in the plug head to convert to component.

eStarland has 'em used for under $40.
posted by Merdryn at 4:45 PM on June 6, 2006

Lik-Sang seems to be out of stock, but I've found them to be pretty helpful about knowing when they'll get ahold of something. They tend to take a couple of days to a week to answer routine email, though, based on my experience buying a BLU2 GP32 from them. Perhaps drop them a line and see what they say?
posted by majick at 5:08 PM on June 6, 2006

How long are you willing to wait? I do believe that the Wii will be backwards compatible with GameCube games and it will have component output.
posted by The Bishop of Turkey at 8:33 PM on June 6, 2006

Oops... missed terpsichoria's comment.
posted by The Bishop of Turkey at 8:34 PM on June 6, 2006

Thanks a bunch, folks - these are some excellent answers and I'll definitely look into the eStarland and Play-Asia options (I had no idea there were sites other than Lik-Sang for stuff like this.) And, I had never even considered the back-compatibility of the Wii. Very intriguing indeed...
posted by Monster_Zero at 8:35 PM on June 6, 2006