Online buying and the myth of the cps 2k

Selling, buying, shopping for and/or trading water blasters.
Post Reply
zeda.beta
Posts: 29
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2010 12:54 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Online buying and the myth of the cps 2k

Post by zeda.beta » Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:32 pm

So basically I've been shopping for new blasters every time I feel like I need more power (always), and google usually returns results on ebay and the like of cps blasters with ridiculous price tags. There seems to be a notion that people will buy cps 2000's at 200, or that a beaten up one with no tags and a leaky pump is worth that at a bare minimum. Why do people believe that? I personally would pay maybe 60-70 for a cps 2k at max, and that is because I don't care about collecting them, not to mention the ones in question are not even collection quality material. It seems that almost all garage sales have been picked over for good cps', at least in my area, and the thrift stores only return xp's and the occasional storm or two. This lack of sources for good guns brings me to the pair of questions that I need your opinion on.

Should we inform people that they would have much better success selling at a lower price point, or should we just wait for the market to bring the price down naturally?

What sources are left for good guns given that ebay is too expensive now and there are very few in thrift stores and local sales?
I reject your reality and substitute my own.

HBWW
Posts: 4110
Joined: Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:12 pm
Location: MI
WWN League Team: Havoc

Re: Online buying and the myth of the cps 2k

Post by HBWW » Wed Mar 26, 2014 4:04 pm

I bought a few off Duxburian from community wars last summer; two 1500's (one broken that I gambled on fixing and lost), and 1200 for replacing the 12k of mine that had a rusty valve.

Homemades may be the only real long term option as these blasters decay, although I've ranted enough on the subject and don't wish to bring it into this thread. (Plus I have not had the time to spare to continue researching better designs.) Unfortunately, short of the usual sources of eBay, Craigslist, garage sales, thrift stores, and friends, I don't know of any other ways of acquiring war-worthy aquatic armament. I too, have noticed that they're dwindling in these sources.

Edit: Regarding eBay prices, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot that can be done. I saw an XP 310 that couldn't sell; people really aren't buying anymore. There's not really any good avenue of informing others as well, especially if you care at all about avoiding averse reactions to such information.
HydroBrawl Water Warfare

Discord: m0useCat

User avatar
darthmeow
Posts: 192
Joined: Fri Jul 19, 2013 5:04 pm

Re: Online buying and the myth of the cps 2k

Post by darthmeow » Wed Mar 26, 2014 7:34 pm

Ebay is challenging- best to wait for a 2K under $150-100, but it's tricky to find good prices. Its also possible to find almost anything for fairly cheap on ebay with enough patience.

DX
Posts: 3495
Joined: Mon Jul 05, 2004 8:35 am
Contact:

Re: Online buying and the myth of the cps 2k

Post by DX » Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:29 pm

There are plenty of cheap CPS on Ebay...but the best deals fly off the site the moment they're listed thanks to sorting by newest listing. Also, there has been a lot of upward pressure on prices, somewhat due to increasing rarity, but more so because the collector base is actually exploding in size. These are mainly nerfer types, prop modders, LARPers, Cosplayers, etc and not actual water war enthusiasts doing the buying at insane prices.

The best way to buy is to master the individual model waves. They go through price cycles like sine waves, the price rises and rises, crests, then drops, to be repeated at some future date. Different models get hot at different times and often for no discernable reason. Time of year has virtually no correlation with the price cycles, which means a lot of things we assumed about the offseason are in fact, false. Several models hit record highs in the depths of last winter and a few in this one. Likewise, prices for certain things have crashed during summer.

I would not complain about the current prices of 2000s because they have crashed really hard and are slowly recovering. So many MK1s have come up for so cheap (less than half of what they used to be worth) and I keep missing them. Unfortunately, if your max budget is $60-70, you'd have to be exceptionally lucky to find one that low and be the first one to snatch it. There are large CPS in thrift stores, but they are rare, and you need to check lots of stores very often just to have a chance. Bob 'o Bob found a NIB CPS 2000 MK1 at a Goodwill for $12. I've found a 1000 for $4.99, a 1200 for $4.99, a 1500 for $4.99, and a 4100 for $5.95. For yard sales, you need to key in on one that definitely has water guns and get there when the sale starts. If you're not prepared to buy early in the morning, you will not find anything left at yard sales. I hate waking up early, but I have been first and scored entire Nerf collections without competition for less than $25 total. A buyer coming minutes later would find nothing because I bought it all.

So basically, if you want good guns for cheap prices, you need to be prepared to be serious about it.
marauder wrote:You have to explain things in terms that kids will understand, like videogames^ That's how I got Sam to stop using piston pumpers

zeda.beta
Posts: 29
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2010 12:54 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Re: Online buying and the myth of the cps 2k

Post by zeda.beta » Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:37 pm

I've been searching ebay for around 5-6 months now, and the lowest I saw a cps 2k finish bidding was at 130. That being said, as the weather warms up there are sure to be sales and people putting their guns out, but I was just wondering if anyone had a secret source or some kind of online warehouse. Soon as I can get back home for the summer, I will most definitely be searching high and low for guns. As of right now I have no way to bring them back home, which poses a problem for buying locally as of now.
I reject your reality and substitute my own.

DX
Posts: 3495
Joined: Mon Jul 05, 2004 8:35 am
Contact:

Re: Online buying and the myth of the cps 2k

Post by DX » Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:50 pm

I've been searching ebay for around 5-6 months now, and the lowest I saw a cps 2k finish bidding was at 130.
Not looking hard enough then...

$90
$50
$70
$120

Those are just the past 90d.

Also note these:
$130, but it's MK1
$140, but it's MK1
marauder wrote:You have to explain things in terms that kids will understand, like videogames^ That's how I got Sam to stop using piston pumpers

zeda.beta
Posts: 29
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2010 12:54 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Re: Online buying and the myth of the cps 2k

Post by zeda.beta » Thu Mar 27, 2014 12:34 am

Huh, guess I missed those. Should start a daily review of ebay I guess. Didn't see any cps' going for good prices whenever I looked, which is why I've been focusing on thrift stores mostly. Scored a storm 800, and a pair of 750's at a local goodwill today. Only guns that I could actually fit in my bags to take home lol.
I reject your reality and substitute my own.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 27 guests