Settlers of Catan

[dwndrgn]

Ok, from recommendations from here and elsewhere, I decided that I might buy Settlers of Catan for my DH and I to play. So, in preparation for that I figured I'd check out the prices everywhere. Online retail stores have it for $27 USD and on eBay?? They are selling it for loads of cash! I don't get it. Why would the game sell for more than the retail price unless it was out of stock or something? It seems to be available everywhere I can find it so why are people paying more than they need to? Is there some secret about treasure accidentally being left inside the shrink wrap?? It just seems odd and has consequently made me not want to buy it, like there is some sort of freaky secret that I don't know about. Anyone have a clue?

[Brown Rat]

I just checked eBay to see what you're referring to. The sellers I see at the top of the page aren't just selling the basic set; they are selling the basic set plus expansion sets. (There are many different expansion sets, some of which cost as much as the basic set.) That may be why their prices are so much higher than the retail price for the basic set.

If you want a list of the different expansion sets, you can visit my (admittedly geeky and lame) website about boardgames: Boardgame Freak . It might help you choose which ones to get and which ones to avoid.

[dwndrgn]

Actually I was mostly griping because the one I bid on (the original, no expansion) sold for $27 plus $8 shipping. It is selling for $27 at amazon! I was just kind of annoyed how the bids just threw it over the top. So I tried again on another one (original, no expansion) and the same thing happened. So I figured I'd try one of the others, the original plus an expansion pack. Same thing happened there with the bids. So it made me wonder if the owners were 'bumping' the bids to try and get a better price because with so many available (there are tons there on eBay) I figured they were fighting to get the bids.

I finally decided that I'd make one bid - my maximum spending allowance and if I get out-bid I'll move on to the next one. So far I've been outbid on all the ones I've bid on. Now most of the ones left are those with multiple expansion packs and I really only want the original. I probably should just avoid the annoyance and get it from amazon...

[Rane Longfox]

So.... why don't you buy it from Amazon Marketplace - it's cheaper than amazon proper

[Snowdog]

People can get caught up in bidding wars and bid over what they would need to pay elsewhere. I've seen it happen quite often, people go on ebay because they think they will get it cheaper and end up paying more. Also, not everyone thinks to check Amazon. Generally these days, Amazon Marketplace is cheaper than ebay for things like new CDs, DVDs and games.