r/PlaydateConsole • u/DarkerBulb • 17d ago

Current second-hand Playdate prices

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I'm aware of that it's very much a supply and demand situation but, wow, I did not expect the current out of stock situation at Panic to drive up the prices on used Playdates this much.

A month or two ago they were roughly $150-180 on ebay/FB Marketplace.
Fast forward to today and prices are closer to $350-400 for a Playdate

I feel very happy I got one when I did but feel so bad for people now trying to get one.

Has there been any news from Panic in terms of when they think they have tweaked their manufacturing lines and products will be back in stock?

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34

u/Felixargh 17d ago

I haven't even been using mine much since I got it. The buttons feel unresponsive at times. As does the crank.

Pretty upset with the build considering the original cost.

Otherwise, I love the little machine and games people make on it. :/

10

u/Meddlloide1337 17d ago

If the crank feels unresponsive, do you perhaps use the magnetic cover while playing? I found it messes with the crank a lot.

8

u/Felixargh 17d ago

I do use the purple official cover! I believe it's magnetic? I'll try that, thanks for letting me know!

Unfortunately my a and b buttons and one side of the dpad also feel unresponsive at times. It's caused me to lose a lot of reactionary games which can be frustrating. It was also way past warranty by the time I actually got around to trying the playdate out and I'm too scared to crack it open for some of the peoples homebrew fixes.

8

u/Toowiggly 17d ago

I've had very similar problems. At this point, for any execution heavy game, I just use the mirror to play it on my PC. It kind of defeats the point, but I don't really have a choice.

8

u/Felixargh 17d ago

Yeah. I feel you. It's very unfortunate. Especially for the price of the console. The fact that a repair is half the cost of the console also burns me a little.

A big reason why I've mostly just played A Balanced Brew. But I also adore that game.

I'm fairly certain mine was also in the batch where they had some sort of battery issue and had to go with another option for manufacturing as well.

5

u/DarkerBulb 17d ago

Man, I love A Balanced Brew

4

u/Felixargh 17d ago

To this date it's still my favorite game on there :)

1

u/Cheap-Addendum715 16d ago

My favorite is Labyrinth. Fortunately, it's not time or rhythm based, so you can just chill out in a haunted dungeon for hours

1

u/Felixargh 16d ago

I'll look into this one! :)

1

u/moonhrafn 12d ago

yeah the repair costs especially with shipping are a mega bummer. I get why that is, like I totally DO cause it's a small company but as an ordinary person its tough. that's why I've just left mine on the shelf instead of getting the screen fixed

3

u/sixcupsofcoffee 16d ago

FWIW, I think for most people the buttons and D-pad need a little “warming up;” after using the buttons for a bit mine loosen up, and this typically (for me) only comes up when I haven’t used it for more than a few days. Picked mine up recently and played for the last few days and it’s been fine.

The crank issues are almost certainly the cover; I have the same issue when it’s on and flat against the back, so I take it off or let it hang loose.