Stupid woman sold me a pirated copy of a AGB game.

[Angrist]

I decided to get Yoshi's Island for the Gameboy Advance, because my brother and I had never played it on the SNES.

There is this respected Dutch trading website that was so popular, that ebay bought it. There were some new copies for €12, but I went for a used copy for €9, without box or manual. I paid the woman and a few days later I received the game.

The cartridge has a different shape, it has a pretty rude introduction screen ("We hacked the game 1 week before release! blabla) and worst of all, the save function doesn't work.

So now I'm mailing her back, saying that I want my money back. I googled her and she appears to be a mother, so I have high hopes...

So while looking for another copy of Yoshi's Story, I discover that all the 'new' ones on that site are also illegal. I know because they also sell "Super Mario The Last GBA Quest", which is a homebrew game. Also 'new', for the same price as all the other games. I just can't believe it.

Has anything like this ever happened to you?

[GameMaster]

I sold an Incredible Hulk game for Gamecube on eBay and I ended up never getting payed. This lady gave me some sketchy e-check or something. By the time I caught on, the 30-day period had passed during which I could have filed an unpaid item claim. The transaction was only around $20 so I wasn't upset enough to pursue it. Since I had sent the game to her, I had her address so I could have always paid her a visit. She lived in a real ghetto part of the Bay Area so I pitied her.

Aside from that one instance though, I've never had any bad experiences buying or selling online. I've done a few things through Craigslist too which is real popular here. Not sure how widespread that is now, it originated in San Francisco.

The best advice I can give you is to look through a seller or buyer's reputation if one is available. eBay has the feedback system which allows people to give each other positive, negative or neutral ratings. And the ratings are fixed into a percentage. I would never deal with anyone who had less than 99% positive feedback.

If its some sort of online retailer, look for the little 'trusted site' emblems that are usually at the bottom.

[Angrist]

Yay, I got my money back. Now returning the game...

So another question, what would you do? Buy the original SNES game for €25, or buy the AGB port for €15? I think I'm still going with the AGB version, but the SNES one would be a good investment, as it's pretty rare (in Europe)...

[mickydaniels]

Yoshi's Island.

I played it on an emulator.

If you must have a copy, get SNES.
Or wait for VC release.

[Dyne]

I never played the SNES one, but I picked up the GBA version and I really enjoyed it. However, this was four years ago when we still only had GBA SPs. I think it would look beautiful on the DS screen though.

Also, there's a "sequel" on DS which I enjoyed.

[Fox 6]

I got the GBA one a while back.

Touch fuzzy get dizzy!