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[Khaz]

Doubt it will make much difference - most of my sales - France. Highest prices from sellers? France. Largest EU arcade/shooter gathering? France again (Stunfest). France and Italy seem to be the two markets generating most of the imports and due to the way import taxes actually work in the EU, it hikes the value of anything coming here by 20% straight off the bat. Some US sellers now refuse to sell to us in the EU on principle to 'keep things in the US'.

What I mean is that if the Dollar and Euro were at parity like it was some time ago, what you sold 150$ would have been bought 150€. With a very strong Euro like nowadays, what you sell 150$ is being bought 100€. With no income modification on our side, it just feels like prices are going down to us. We buy 100€ something that is worth 150€, and we're happy to resell it 150€ on the local market, a price you see as 225$. Other Americans see the artificially inflated prices in Europe and try to sell it at the same price, driving your local market up.

I never had to pay import taxes for my games. Importing from the US is expensive (I often pay between 15 to 20$ per parcel) but I'm assuming it's because of USPS, as shipping from other parts of the world like Canada or Japan is quite cheap.

 

[system11]

What I mean is that if the Dollar and Euro were at parity like it was some time ago, what you sold 150$ would have been bought 150€. With a very strong Euro like nowadays, what you sell 150$ is being bought 100€. With no income modification on our side, it just feels like prices are going down to us. We buy 100€ something that is worth 150€, and we're happy to resell it 150€ on the local market, a price you see as 225$. Other Americans see the artificially inflated prices in Europe and try to sell it at the same price, driving your local market up.

I never had to pay import taxes for my games. Importing from the US is expensive (I often pay between 15 to 20$ per parcel) but I'm assuming it's because of USPS, as shipping from other parts of the world like Canada or Japan is quite cheap.

I'm in the UK. Luckily my collection is nearly finished.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

So what do you guys think, will later generation games rise to the price levels of SNES games? Stuff like N64, PS1, Saturn, Dreamcast etc.

I think pretty much every system will eventually have a decent collector's market up until you get to the PS3/360 era, where I expect the second-hand market to start declining.

Like I posted earlier, a lot of modern games are going to have a hard time retaining value once you can't download important patches or DLC anymore, and that's only going to become more frequent with time.

 

[Timu]

The insane spike of SNES game prices has shocked me. I don't have much nostalgia for the system personally but the rise of LPers has floored me with the relation to game prices. When will these prices normalize to what they were a few years ago? Is it even possible at this rate?

Well, from what I've seen, not only I would say no, but as time goes, it's only going to get worse.

 

[Slermy]

Plus, a lot of those rare games I didn't actually enjoy playing. Once I started asking myself which games I regularly dug out and enjoyed, selling got a whole lot easier.

I think this is important.

I go after rare games, sure, but only if it's something that I honestly want to play.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Game Vault for iOS works great.

it uses the giant bomb database and as such, is missing a lot of obscure titles

 

[Cmerrill]

I just recently paid $140 for a mint "Super Metroid' in box. So worth it. I also spend $215 on a near mint CIB "Chrono Trigger", it's already worth way more than that.

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

Over the last year or so, I've been selling off a lot of my collection. I place less personal value on my games collection than I used to (I used to never sell stuff; now I sell something if I I think I'll probably never play it again) and I've also been able to buy digital versions of a lot of stuff on Virtual Console/XBox Live Arcade/Steam/etc, which has allowed me to sell some classics that I may want to play again in future.

Honestly, now that I'm older, and have had to deal with moving a few times now, the thought of stuff I don't really need taking up space is unappealing. I'd rather have fewer material possessions and more money to spend on stuff I'll actually enjoy, rather than stuff sitting on a shelf just looking pretty.

I'm finally starting to cash out on a lot of my rarer games. I had a phase several years ago where I just had to have a game because it was rare, but I can't do that anymore. In the beginning I simply took them to a local retro store, but I should've used eBay. I traded:

Misadventures of Tron Bonne, Shantae, Xenoblade, Oracle of Seasons + Ages, Metroid Prime Trilogy, and Popful Mail. Do you know what I got for all of that?

$206, but I'll add that the face on the sales rep was priceless. Nonetheless, I got ripped.

eBay's going much better. I've heard people say that you'll regret selling, but it's been a huge load off. Plus, a lot of those rare games I didn't actually enjoy playing. Once I started asking myself which games I regularly dug out and enjoyed, selling got a whole lot easier.

Sounds like you and me see eye-to-eye.

You'll only regret selling if you're not very good at determining what you don't see yourself playing again. It was hard at first, but now I find it a lot easier to tell myself "I really don't see myself ever going back to this". Worst case scenario, if you do get the urge to revisit a game you sold, you can always buy another copy. You won't be out that much (if at all), if you sell it for a good price to begin with.

 

[Khaz]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Fukko...EW-/281441430336?ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:FR:3160
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Snow-White-...EW-/281441428411?ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:FR:3160

I would love to have them. But that price though

Please buy them and enjoy them for me guys.

 

[Mercutio]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Fukko...EW-/281441430336?ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:FR:3160
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Snow-White-...EW-/281441428411?ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:FR:3160

I would love to have them. But that price though

Please buy them and enjoy them for me guys.

Good god. That PRICE. If you just want to use a Saturn pad on a PS2, isn't there a converter for that? I mean, if not, it wouldn't be hard to wire up a pad-hack breakout box...

 

[Timu]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Fukko...EW-/281441430336?ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:FR:3160
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Snow-White-...EW-/281441428411?ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:FR:3160

I would love to have them. But that price though

Please buy them and enjoy them for me guys.

Holy crap at those prices!!!

 

[Khaz]

Well, they ARE rare and they are New In Box. I think I saw a used black one earlier this year for a BIN price of $150. It took a few weeks but it finally sold.

 

[system11]

I should really sell my ones, I have a pair of the Vampire Chronicles Saturn pads for PS2, both mint and one never opened.

 

[Hector Garfria]

The feeling a lot of people have at local retro stores I go to(all 3 of them in my area) is that a lot of people at this point are content with their NES collections and are moving on to the SNES stuff, driving up prices.

I collect(ed) Genesis games, and the recent demand for SNES is bleeding into the whole 16-bit era of games and consoles. Last year around this time, Hyperstone Heist CnB was 50 bucks. Last I checked it was sitting at 80 bucks a month ago. I managed to snag uncommon-ish stuff before all this blew up like Castlevania Bloodlines, Gunstar Heroes, Herzog Zwei, Lightening Force, Comix Zone, Mutant League Football, Rocket Knight Adventures, and even a Canadian NTSC variant of Sonic The Hedgehog(Canada got NTSC games packaged in Japanese/European artwork which leads to better looking cases for games like Sonic 1 and Kid Khameleon) for relatively cheap. Every one of those have shot up in price since for no discernible reason. I haven't purchased a game in about 3 months now. Every game worth a damn under 10 bucks I own already, or I've owned and played and sold at this point. I'm just stuck looking at Price Charts online hoping to catch a deal, the worst thing of all really is how every market for retro games(save for 2-3 booths at any given convention or flea markets with no resellers) are using the site's AVERAGE price as their BASE price to mark up from now.

 

[sixteen-bit]

I should really sell my ones, I have a pair of the Vampire Chronicles Saturn pads for PS2, both mint and one never opened.

How much do you want for them?

 

[Khaz]

How much do you want for them?

Hey! I was here first!

 

[system11]

How much do you want for them?

I'll probably put them on ebay and let people duke it out. Or hoard them, I wonder if the price has peaked yet. The reason I hadn't sold is I might get the PS2 out again eventually. That's a mint boxed Sakura edition, like new.

The pads are pretty nice:
http://www.system11.org/temp/Auctionpics/ps2_satpad1.jpg

 

[CaseyTappy]

I don't get people trying to collect arcade boards though. Home video games were printed in hundreds of thousands copies, but arcade boards were more likely in the thousands. There were expensive then, they are expensive now. It's professional hardware made for people running a business. And you need the hardware to use them, either one cabinet per board or the will to switch the board every time you want to play a game. I suspect many collectors don't ever play their games.

Most collectors do play, it's the main reason to collect .
You need just one jamma cab and then you switch a board like you switch a Snes game .

 

[system11]

Most collectors do play, it's the main reason to collect .
You need just one jamma cab and then you switch a board like you switch a Snes game .

Don't make it sound that easy, way too many new collectors don't know what the hell they're doing in terms of looking after what is essentially fragile vintage electronics.

 

[Gonzo The Great]

I was at a used game store earlier, and they were charging $399 dollars for an EarthBound cartridge. :|

Wii U + EarthBound on the Virtual Console = $310

Like... what the fuck. This is why I get so animated over the Wii U VC having such a weak selection of downloadable games.

 

[HolyBaikal]

Some of my favourite games are really expensive. Though, they're not just retro games, they're rare ones.

Magical Pop'n is really really expensive. And so is Keio Flying Squadron.

 

[Gonzo The Great]

take it from an ex-collector (I've since sold off all my Atari 2600, NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, PSX, GAmecube, Dreamcast, PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360, and Wii libraries - HUGE amount of games) - garage sales and pawn shops are your friends. People on eBay will google the value of their stuff and start bids at stupid prices OR noob eBay bidders will bid like idiots and artificially inflate the value of an item.

Not anymore. The internet has ruined retro game collecting. You don't think that Pawn Shop owners aren't going to Google the value of their games? Maybe in small rural communities, but it's impossible to get anything for a good price in the big city.

 

[blurrygil]

Slowly but surely, I've been dabbling with retro collecting. I don't want complete collections, just my childhood favorites and also well regarded games I missed. So for me that would be NES, Genesis, SNES, Saturn, GBA at least for now. Thinking of Dreamcast, Gamecube, and PS2 later.

For those that don't want to do eBay/Amazon, you can do garage sales and Craigslists and get better deals. The former is absolutely insane. I was looking for a copy of Mega Man 8 for Saturn--Complete in Box (CIB) and prices were around 300 bucks for the US version. Mega Man stuff is insane in the retro market.

Nintendo stuff is evergreen as well. It's also made me keep all my Nintendo 1st party stuff as it just doesn't lose value much.

Another concern is the rise of bootlegs, which are common in Amazon/eBay.

I wonder if this bubble will ever burst. But as for now I do regret selling my games from previous generations. Buying them back has cost me some nice change.

Anyone else gotten in retro collecting of late? How do you avoid the insane prices? For those with substantial collections, use eBay before selling your crap. Don't get fleeced!

Been doing it for many years. I'm also part-time organizer for SRGE (Seattle Retro Gaming Expo).

Best way to get good deals is through personal networking. Find a community online and meet people face to face. Game-trade nights, expos and other events are great ways to network. Don't get married to "hard finds", as they're known, stuff you really want that's not very common. Snag stuff individually, trade and upgrade as you go. It's all about the hunt and meeting folks along the way that will help you.

The bubble won't really burst as it is right now, but end up like a revolving door. It'll deflate, then come back up again once interest is renewed.

If you wanna chat more, PM me.

Oh, and don't talk about "insane" or "expensive" until you also do coin-ops and pins...

 

[Slermy]

Not anymore. The internet has ruined retro game collecting. You don't think that Pawn Shop owners aren't going to Google the value of their games? Maybe in small rural communities, but it's impossible to get anything for a good price in the big city.

Yeah, pretty much this.

 

[Azzurri]

Not anymore. The internet has ruined retro game collecting. You don't think that Pawn Shop owners aren't going to Google the value of their games? Maybe in small rural communities, but it's impossible to get anything for a good price in the big city.

Yup good luck finding those deals when even soccer moms who know nothing about this. Unless the person lives under a rock I'd say almost everyone uses eBay or other sites to set prices.

 

[JMDSO]

Yeah, pretty much this.

There's only one or two retro game stores in my area where the prices are even tolerable.

One place pretty much uses straight eBay pricing.

 

[akileese]

I just recently paid $140 for a mint "Super Metroid' in box. So worth it. I also spend $215 on a near mint CIB "Chrono Trigger", it's already worth way more than that.

Those are both really good prices. Less so on Super Metroid but that chrono trigger price is ridiculous. It trends around 100-110 loose so double that for a near mint CIB is a steal.

 

[Timu]

Not anymore. The internet has ruined retro game collecting. You don't think that Pawn Shop owners aren't going to Google the value of their games? Maybe in small rural communities, but it's impossible to get anything for a good price in the big city.

Yep, that's how it is nowadays it seems.

 

[SirUltimos]

I think pretty much every system will eventually have a decent collector's market up until you get to the PS3/360 era, where I expect the second-hand market to start declining.

Like I posted earlier, a lot of modern games are going to have a hard time retaining value once you can't download important patches or DLC anymore, and that's only going to become more frequent with time.

I can see Game of the Year Editions and Complete Collections (anything that includes all the DLC) becoming valuable. For example, take a look at the Marvel Ultimate Alliance Gold Edition. Some of the DLC was permanently removed and so the price of this disc has gone much higher than a similarly old game.

 

[entremet]

There's only one or two retro game stores in my area where the prices are even tolerable.

One place pretty much uses straight eBay pricing.

Garage sales are awesome. But they're time consuming.

 

[antibolo]

There's only one or two retro game stores in my area where the prices are even tolerable.

One place pretty much uses straight eBay pricing.

"Straight eBay pricing" actually sounds like a pretty good deal compared to the shit places I've been, where their pricing strategy has been "eBay pricing plus 15$". Going there was a fucking waste of my time.

 

[eternalb]

I know... I'm glad to be selling right now. Just unloaded my copy of M.U.S.H.A for $400

 

[entremet]

"Straight eBay pricing" actually sounds like a pretty good deal compared to the shit places I've been, where their pricing strategy has been "eBay pricing plus 15$".

They justify the markup as convenience. No need to win bids or wait for the game to come in the mail.

That's the spiel I got from a retro shop owner.

 

[chaosaeon]

Yeah, I once went to look for Megaman Legends 2 online ..... once.

 

[JMDSO]

"Straight eBay pricing" actually sounds like a pretty good deal compared to the shit places I've been, where their pricing strategy has been "eBay pricing plus 15$". Going there was a fucking waste of my time.

There are some of those too.

We at one point found a flea market where the guy had thousands of retro games and sold them at a flat fee ($5 for NES for example). There was a metric ton of duplicates, but we came out of there with some good games like Final Fantasy.

 

[antibolo]

They justify the markup as convenience. No need to win bids or wait for the game to come in the mail.

That's the spiel I got from a retro shop owner.

They're idiots, because the convenience of getting things shipped to your home/workplace definitely outweighs having to take the time to physically go to their shops, where you may or may not find something interesting. Their mindset is completely backwards. Now that I've been there and seen their shit prices, why the hell would I ever go back? They're already lost me as a potential patron.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

They justify the markup as convenience. No need to win bids or wait for the game to come in the mail.

That's the spiel I got from a retro shop owner.

You also get to inspect the condition and authenticity of the item up close and in person instead of risking luck of the draw on vague descriptions or screenshots. That can be worth the occasional premium.

 

[nrvalleytime]

Just letting you all know - one of the pricier DS Dragon Quest games just received a reprint.

Makes the purchase pain a bit easier to handle.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=900314

 

[Mercutio]

Not anymore. The internet has ruined retro game collecting. You don't think that Pawn Shop owners aren't going to Google the value of their games? Maybe in small rural communities, but it's impossible to get anything for a good price in the big city.

Yard sales, stoop sales, and good-will type stores still have good deals. I recently picked up a few Nintendo published titles for Gamecube and Wii for $2 each... it's just about being in the right place at the right time.

Heck, in a big city? Sometimes you find stuff. I recently found a complete Genesis High-Def model outside someone's house, on the curb for free.

 

[SURGEdude]

My fairly epic Saturn collection has nearly tripled price just in the last few years after declining for 10 years straight. But like people have suggested a lot of it has to do with non-gamers looking to swoop in and setting an arbitrary price that later sellers incrementally increase. Look at Amazon as the best example where sometimes stuff that it worth next to nothing is listed for hundreds or even thousands hoping to dupe a sucker with no sense.

 

[RedSwirl]

The main reason why you will never hear me complaining about Virtual Console prices =P

This. Sure, for a digital copy, $8 for Ogre Battle might be expensive, but the alternative is $45 for a cartridge. That's probably how Nintendo get's away with it too.

This however is also why people are pissed at VC's selection. At the same time, this is the best thing about PS1 and PS2 Classics. Final Fantasy VII has been one of the best-selling PSN games probably because a physical copy still costs $70 sometimes.

Yeah, I once went to look for Megaman Legends 2 online ..... once.

Jesus. I remember finding that game for $5 a few years ago. It was only the disc, but still...

Better hang on to that shit.

 

[Timu]

Yeah, I once went to look for Megaman Legends 2 online ..... once.

It's pretty bad now.

 

[sn00zer]

Is it illegal to DL roms of game that are unavailable to purchase through retail? Always wondered that

 

[fenners]

Is it illegal to DL roms of game that are unavailable to purchase through retail? Always wondered that

Availability to buy has nothing to do with whether it's illegal (in the US at least) to download a ROM. There's no such legal thing as abandonware.

 

[Seik]

Is it illegal to DL roms of game that are unavailable to purchase through retail? Always wondered that

You mean that never ever were sold at retail or that are not available anymore because of age?

If it's the ladder, then yes, it's still illegal.

If it's something that never came out at first, let's say Star Fox 2 on SNES, I guess that's another story.

 

[SURGEdude]

Has anybody else noticed the ripple effect is starting to carry over to some of the commonly recommended CRT TVs that people were paying to have hauled away just a couple years back?

Makes sense considering CRTs despite being primitive require pretty serious and expensive factories to produce, and from what I can tell there are no mainstream TV makers who still operate them. The limited number of HD models produced seems to be a big driving force because most people went with LCD/Plasma instead during the short period they were on the market.

So if you want to get a decent CRT TV especially a 720P or 1080i model now is the time to buy or pay attention to the last wave of people ditching them for flatscreens. Crazy to think how many of these suckers ended up being taken to waste removal companies and destroyed.

Once they are gone they won't be coming back it seems.

 

[antibolo]

Is it illegal to DL roms of game that are unavailable to purchase through retail? Always wondered that

Yes. Stuff doesn't magically become public domain once it is no longer available for sale. You're still infringing on someone's IP.

 

[lewisgone]

I was considering starting a proper retro Nintendo game collection but the prices are just nuts to get into SNES stuff, and gba stuff is full of fake copies. Doesn't seem worth my time or money, as much as I'd love to own a few older games. Batteries in older cartridges dying and needing replacement also makes me care less about getting into it. Now I just hold on to any game I think I'll want to play again, which is hard to figure out at first but I think I'm getting a better sense of it. Sold some stuff I regret but learnt from it and eventually got most of it back. I just focus my collector mentality on current stuff now - only buying games I think I'll want forever, keeping stuff minimal, going for collections within a franchise, not for a console or publisher. I also get way more joy out of a current gen limited edition copy of a game than an older cartridge out-of-box that is only expensive due to age and availability.

Vey few games are an exception to that. I would like to own Earthbound on SNES one day and maybe Super Metroid, LTTP and the Mario games. But stuff I only have a passing interest in, mainly for the sake of building a collection, haven't revealed themselves to be worth the money.

 

[Mercutio]

My fairly epic Saturn collection has nearly tripled price just in the last few years after declining for 10 years straight. But like people have suggested a lot of it has to do with non-gamers looking to swoop in and setting an arbitrary price that later sellers incrementally increase. Look at Amazon as the best example where sometimes stuff that it worth next to nothing is listed for hundreds or even thousands hoping to dupe a sucker with no sense.

I think a lot of folks have realized that older games are the new "Baseball Cards." People in their 20s, 30s, and 40s don't collect cards now... they collect their own equivalent bits of childhood.

And yeah, many people who don't necessarily care about games are getting in on the collecting frenzy.

I will say that Genesis stuff is a great place to collect right now. The market has its crazy priced titles, sure, but the majority of great things are still entirely affordable. As a bonus, you almost always get a nice plastic box and sometimes even a manual. Complete games are way more common due to the awesome packaging.

 

[s_mirage]

Not anymore. The internet has ruined retro game collecting. You don't think that Pawn Shop owners aren't going to Google the value of their games? Maybe in small rural communities, but it's impossible to get anything for a good price in the big city.

I don't think it's the internet alone that's ruined collecting. It's newly affluent, idiot instacollectors with more money than sense that have enabled sellers to hike their prices to such an extent. That would have likely happened with an offline only market too. Why set reasonable prices or put things up for auction when there's always some fool who will pay whatever egregiously inflated price you set?

I don't believe this will last for the simple reasons that fad collectors will drop away over time and, unlike many items such as comics, a lot of games that are commanding overinflated prices are nowhere near what I'd call rare.