Topic: Where do you buy retro consoles?

I’m looking for a handheld console for my son, will be his first console. I had a game boy growing up, and still have the games although the gameboy itself has given up now.

I was thinking of a game boy advance, thought it would be fun for us to go retro game hunting sometimes.

Anyway, where do you guys buy retro consoles? Are CEX ok for this kind of thing? Would you trust buying from the website, or only go in store to get a proper look first?

I bought my retro consoles from my hometown Surabaya.
Some of retro consoles like PS2, PS3, Wii, NDS Lite, etc I bought from local game shop in my hometown.

Go to a store if you can. I worked at gamestop for years and took in some questionable/grody hardware. So it’s better to compare the stock on hand than hope the shipping gods smile upon you.

@BowsersBuddy
Cheapest way would probably be on the Facebook marketplace.

Thanks all! Sorry I should have said I'm in the UK,

@Anti-Matter sounds like you have quite an impressive collection of consoles!

@Ryu_Niiyama yes in CEX over here I am have seen some very questionable stuff. Thats what has put me off ordering online so far, they dont seem to clean some of the stuff on the shelves so I would be a bit nervous ordering from them.

@blindsquirrel thanks, good shout! The only benefit to CEX seems to be that everything comes with a warranty, but marketplace does work out less expensive it seems.

I will keep looking around, cheers all.

@BowsersBuddy I'd recommend looking out for a game boy advance sp, the only flaw it has is the lack of a headphone jack, otherwise it's the best model of the 3.

@BowsersBuddy I buy them second hand. The only exception is a USA N64 that I bought and imported from DKOldies.

I got 2 GBA SP AGS-101 from people in second hand online markets. One of the poor guys did not know what he was selling, and I got it for 5$ It is like buying Alaska

@BowsersBuddy Unless it has to be an authentic GBA experience to the last detail, I would consider buying one of the GBAs that's been given a new shell and back-lit screen. You'll find them on ebay. It's still GBA (Nintendo) circuitry, but just with a newer, better screen and a slightly modified shell to fit the new screen. Only downside to them is I think they tend to do away with AA batteries and put a rechargeable lithium one in instead.

You can.try ebay for one. There is also retro gaming stores, and flea markets as well.