Author Topic: Anyone else been tempted to downsize with game prices being so high?  (Read 4408 times)

I belong to a retro gaming facebook group where surprisingly a lot of people have been in a frenzy to buy certain high demand games. What's surprising about it is when they people are asking for a specific game i'll often look up the price and am shocked at what they're currently selling for. I guess it's people not wanting to be FOMO'ed; many have said they were thinking about buying X game a few months ago, they held off, the pandemic happened, and now that game is selling for double what it was back in January.


As luck would have it I have many of these super high dollar, rapidly rising games. I've looked at the prices of several and various others and it's kinda crazy how much money I could make by just unloading about a 100 or so heavy hitters I own. Like I could seriously pay my car off with that money, which has led me to evaluate just how important some of these games are to me.


Has this happened to anyone else recently? Have you taken the plunge and started collecting massive profits?

Re: Anyone else been tempted to downsize with game prices being so high?
« Reply #1 on: July 03, 2020, 12:13:56 pm »
Some retro video game physical  stores might be having sales I think.

At least the one I was just at yesterday, Disc Reply Sold me a bunch of PS1 games even games that were not sports games for 50 cents 2 for $1 USD each. maybe I was just lucky but maybe other stores are doing the same thing :-\

(edit) All I needed was to wear a mask and get a ride down there, I got a bunch of racing games I didn't have and even a Tetris game for the PS1 also
« Last Edit: July 03, 2020, 12:21:06 pm by oldgamerz »
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Re: Anyone else been tempted to downsize with game prices being so high?
« Reply #2 on: July 03, 2020, 12:19:38 pm »
Yes, in fact I'm going to start selling games I know I'll pretty much never play. I think I want to focus on having a much more curated and personal collection. I've noticed some games have doubled / tripled in price during this Covid business and my interest in collecting has wained a lot since I got my own house.
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Re: Anyone else been tempted to downsize with game prices being so high?
« Reply #3 on: July 03, 2020, 12:32:47 pm »
Im a little tempted to get rid of my extra copies but im not sure it's worth the effort retro stores won't give me what their worth anyway and I don't sell online.It's just that I have so many boxes I would have to go through to find the best stuff thay are all stored away and it would take awhile.Mabey I should though now would be the time.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2020, 12:35:18 pm by wartoy »

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Re: Anyone else been tempted to downsize with game prices being so high?
« Reply #4 on: July 03, 2020, 12:52:48 pm »
I sold off a bunch of my doubles to local collectors and made about $1500.  Took minimal effort and it was fun clearing out some crap.  I'm tempted to sell some stuff since prices are so crazy but the hoarder in me won't let me do it.  My PS2 collection basically doubled in value in 3 months- crazy... Eventually some prices will start to go down, but it doesn't look like retro collecting is dwindling in popularity right now. And if we get another stimulus check, oh man, rule of rose might reach 1k.

Re: Anyone else been tempted to downsize with game prices being so high?
« Reply #5 on: July 03, 2020, 12:53:06 pm »
Im a little tempted to get rid of my extra copies but im not sure it's worth the effort retro stores won't give me what their worth anyway and I don't sell online.It's just that I have so many boxes I would have to go through to find the best stuff thay are all stored away and it would take awhile.Mabey I should though now would be the time.

If you want more money online is the way to go for selling, but if you're buying than physical stores are better priced
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Re: Anyone else been tempted to downsize with game prices being so high?
« Reply #6 on: July 03, 2020, 12:55:17 pm »
Not really. I'm not finding the need to liquidate as I've got enough in the bank & my investment portfolio combined with the fact that I'm debt-free (car, house, student loans all paid off).

What has affected me is that since I'm not really finding what I want for prices I like, is that I've just been focusing my collecting on other things, so I've been instead bulking up my collections of board games, Lego Sets, vintage toys, and books & Manga.

Re: Anyone else been tempted to downsize with game prices being so high?
« Reply #7 on: July 03, 2020, 06:18:36 pm »
I have sold a box full of Wii Sports for 30 each that I couldn't sell last year for 5 dollars.

sworddude

Re: Anyone else been tempted to downsize with game prices being so high?
« Reply #8 on: July 03, 2020, 07:08:39 pm »
on the one hand you could think sell high and buy low later

but for a ton of retro stuff condition is kinda hard to find even if your willing to pay good prices for the more obscure especially cardboard stuff let alone how much it would drop later on to make it worthwhile.

If it ain't duplicated imo not worth it hard to find probably not worth the hassle to find in a really good condition again even if your willing to spend the normal prices.

Obviously if your not planning on playing it anyway and have no nostalgia for it at all, definitely a great time to sell stuff atm, no arguments there.

Im a little tempted to get rid of my extra copies but im not sure it's worth the effort retro stores won't give me what their worth anyway and I don't sell online.It's just that I have so many boxes I would have to go through to find the best stuff thay are all stored away and it would take awhile.Mabey I should though now would be the time.

If you want more money online is the way to go for selling, but if you're buying than physical stores are better priced

Physical stores are 9 out of 10 times more pricy than online.

Sure retro game stores could have some deals for more niche stuff but literally the same things apply for such stores online.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2020, 07:10:36 pm by sworddude »
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Re: Anyone else been tempted to downsize with game prices being so high?
« Reply #9 on: July 03, 2020, 10:47:04 pm »
on the one hand you could think sell high and buy low later

but for a ton of retro stuff condition is kinda hard to find even if your willing to pay good prices for the more obscure especially cardboard stuff let alone how much it would drop later on to make it worthwhile.

If it ain't duplicated imo not worth it hard to find probably not worth the hassle to find in a really good condition again even if your willing to spend the normal prices.

Obviously if your not planning on playing it anyway and have no nostalgia for it at all, definitely a great time to sell stuff atm, no arguments there.

Im a little tempted to get rid of my extra copies but im not sure it's worth the effort retro stores won't give me what their worth anyway and I don't sell online.It's just that I have so many boxes I would have to go through to find the best stuff thay are all stored away and it would take awhile.Mabey I should though now would be the time.

If you want more money online is the way to go for selling, but if you're buying than physical stores are better priced

Physical stores are 9 out of 10 times more pricy than online.

Sure retro game stores could have some deals for more niche stuff but literally the same things apply for such stores online.


The stuff I'm mainly considering are a bunch of PS1 and PS2 JRPGs that I bought close to a decade ago when I thought I loved those games way more than I actually did. I was a huge JRPG fan from around 2000 until 2003 or so, then I took a break from gaming, and then when I got back into it I assumed I had the same lust for the genre. It wasn't until I had a bunch of JRPGs I owned again from when I was younger and quite a few I didn't that I realized I wasn't as into them after having countless false starts with trying to get into them. I suppose someday maybe I'll have a change of heart and get really into JRPGs again, but considering my decreased interest in JRPGs seems to coincide with my decreased interest in anime I kind doubt that'll happen anytime soon, if ever.


One thing I've considered doing in the future with certain high price items is rent-buying them. That's pretty much buying a super expensive game with the intention of likely reselling it for around what you paid after playing it. I more or less did this with Panzer Dragoon Saga, and as luck would have it I actually ended up making money doing it. But even if I lost 10% of what I paid I suppose it would be worth it to be able to experience a game and then sell it, unless of course it was just so awesome that I felt like keeping it at the several hundred dollars or whatever I paid for it :p

Re: Anyone else been tempted to downsize with game prices being so high?
« Reply #10 on: July 03, 2020, 10:55:28 pm »
I can't help but wonder if this sudden boom in retro game demand and prices will result in an actual crash on the other side of this?


I know this is beating a dead horse since we've been talking about a "bubble" for years, but seriously. The economy is getting worse, people's stimulus checks are going to be gone soon, assuming they aren't already; there are still millions out of work and unable to even pay their rent, and of course someday everyone is going to be able to go back to work, go out with friends, and return to the life they had prior to COVID. What then? Does everyone just hang on to these games they wouldn't have bought without $1200 or if they weren't being forced to stay at home? Or do people sell everything all around the same time, creating a massive glut of supply that brings prices crashing down?


I personally believe this boom in prices will be pretty temporary, and without another large stimulus or a massive economic recovery I don't see prices staying where they're at. Whether it's businesses reopening, people needing to sell non-essential stuff to pay for essential needs, or the economy being so piss poor that video game collecting demand essentially dies, I think we will see a potential crash sometime next year, possibly towards the end of this year.


I guess if you are planning on selling do it soon. I'm still on the fence, but with everything I've picked out of my collection I'd be sitting on around $15,000 if I sold everything at the prices they're currently at. Mind you that's only about 150 games too. Makes me wonder what i'd get if I sold half my collection which sounds crazy, but if I was looking at $40,000-$50,000, maybe it wouldn't be so crazy....

Re: Anyone else been tempted to downsize with game prices being so high?
« Reply #11 on: July 03, 2020, 11:18:10 pm »
I've been tempted to sell a few pieces here and there.  Mostly consoles that don't see much use.  I could probably get about 10x what I paid for my Virtual Boy set right now.


Re: Anyone else been tempted to downsize with game prices being so high?
« Reply #12 on: July 03, 2020, 11:20:21 pm »
If the Economy goes down no more jobs mean more poor people sell their games. people buy for a higher price sell to more rich people  richer people sell, to other rich people, they sell it and the prices just keeps going up, then everything game wise goes up, Digital Modern game companies become the only option, (I am hoping not)

Game physical media value goes up, most people get upset and possibly find a new thing to spend their money on,

= dead video game industry for collectors not into the 6 digits

repeat that with movies and CD's and then most physical media becomes like gold. then we can't own a damn thing and if this happens to all media in which it may.

and if cash is stll king by then, there will be unstoppable commercial advertisements  on everything media Life would become work work and no play,
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Re: Anyone else been tempted to downsize with game prices being so high?
« Reply #13 on: July 03, 2020, 11:43:22 pm »
I have over the last couple of days. While pricing at this time is a factor, my major factor is getting rid of stuff I dont want right now. In particular, games I could play somewhere else without taking up pace or games I have had for a long time and never getting around to it. As it stands, I have boxed up those games in particular and will put them away for the time being until I get the time to actual go about selling them. I updated my sell list to reflect that and will post a sell thread here just to see if there is any interest here for anything I have.

Re: Anyone else been tempted to downsize with game prices being so high?
« Reply #14 on: July 04, 2020, 03:35:26 am »
If the Economy goes down no more jobs mean more poor people sell their games.
If people are out of work for long enough (irrespective of the economy at large), this will happen, yes.

However, everything else you said is incorrect. I'll explain.

people buy for a higher price sell to more rich people  richer people sell, to other rich people, they sell it and the prices just keeps going up, then everything game wise goes up
If a large supply of games hits the market, that won’t cause their value to go up, but down (or at least, plateau). The values now are high because everyone’s cooped up, and many people are (foolishly) using their relief money to buy games, and so demand is high while supply is dwindling. If supply increases because people need to liquidate, then as a result the number of prospective buyers decrease, and demand will drop.

It doesn’t matter if the shrinking pool of buyers are rich. Rich people don’t stay rich by being stupid, and tend not to outbid themselves for a product no one else is clamouring for. If you’re selling something and there are only 2 prospective buyers vs the previous 10, then the wealth of those 2 is irrelevant as the demand is less and their won’t be as furious a bidding war (literally and figuratively).

Digital Modern game companies become the only option, (I am hoping not)
Ignoring the ever closer reality of all digital gaming for a moment, new physical releases won’t suddenly have increased retail prices just because retro game prices are on fire. They are catering to very different audiences, and again, the supply/demand in one is vastly different than in the other.

Game physical media value goes up, most people get upset and possibly find a new thing to spend their money on.
People might move on from the retro scene if they are priced out, but it won’t have any appreciable effect on current gen game sales.

= dead video game industry for collectors not into the 6 digits
And this is why your doomsday scenario for the game industry (which is about modern releases, they don’t profit from secondhand retro sales) will not happen. They still have to earn money, and they won’t do that pricing themselves out of the market, nor is there any impetus to do so based on second hand values of old games no longer in production.

repeat that with movies and CD's and then most physical media becomes like gold. then we can't own a damn thing and if this happens to all media in which it may.
Is there a significant markup on used DVDs and CDs now?

and if cash is stll king by then, there will be unstoppable commercial advertisements  on everything media Life would become work work and no play.
??? Not sure how you think cash transactions (vs direct payment via cards) have any impact on advertising, or how it affects the average person’s work-life balance?
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