if you had to sell off parts of your collection. . .

[bikingjahuty]

Geez, some of you guys are pretty hardcore about refusing to sell your games under almost any circumstance. Too me, while I love my collection and would definitely start selling off other things first (like much of my Manga or Anime collection), video games are replaceable objects when it comes down to it. Sure, it would be a pain in the ass to find some of these games again, but at least for me, I've enjoyed hunting down and finding most of the games in my collection. In all though, if it came down to eating or having a roof over my head, the collection would have to go.

[disgaeniac]

Geez, some of you guys are pretty hardcore about refusing to sell your games under almost any circumstance. Too me, while I love my collection and would definitely start selling off other things first (like much of my Manga or Anime collection), video games are replaceable objects when it comes down to it. Sure, it would be a pain in the ass to find some of these games again, but at least for me, I've enjoyed hunting down and finding most of the games in my collection. In all though, if it came down to eating or having a roof over my head, the collection would have to go.

Sure...if you take it to the extremes of being homeless & starving.

I dunno, the way I see it - I'd say that there's no question that *everybody* who's at starvation's door...or on the brink of being homeless would, of course, sell (any of) their material & replaceable items to feed and shelter themselves & their families.

I think that the reason that it hasn't been 'stated'  (*exactly*) that way is because, well...it's kind of a 'given' and a stating of the obvious 

[Warmsignal]

I'd definitely starve first. Ramen noodles are what? 40 cents a pack? To me, while game hunting is fun and all, it's not something I'd want to do again. I consider finding a home, a car, and food, much easier than building a large and diverse game collection. Worse comes to worse, apply at McDonald's and fall back on family for refuge until you can get your self straight again, and take your game collection with you. To me it's not worth a quick sell so that I can tie ends together and stay afloat long enough to get back on track and then have no games.

I'd say 90% of the games I have came from real world hunting, and not eBay. But if I was forced to start over, about 90% would need to come from eBay because of how much it's dried up in the small town area I live in. So that makes it much more difficult, what took me 6 years would probably take another 10, and probably thousands more in spending than the first time around. I just wouldn't do it again at this point.

[disgaeniac]

I'd definitely starve first. Ramen noodles are what? 40 cents a pack? To me, while game hunting is fun and all, it's not something I'd want to do again. I consider finding a home, a car, and food, much easier than building a large and diverse game collection. Worse comes to worse, apply at McDonald's and fall back on family for refuge until you can get your self straight again, and take your game collection with you. To me it's not worth a quick sell so that I can tie ends together and stay afloat long enough to get back on track and then have no games.

I'd say 90% of the games I have came from real world hunting, and not eBay. But if I was forced to start over, about 90% would need to come from eBay because of how much it's dried up in the small town area I live in. So that makes it much more difficult, what took me 6 years would probably take another 10, and probably thousands more in spending than the first time around. I just wouldn't do it again at this point.

Sure.

It would/could certainly be different cases & decisions if you can rely on a family that's willing to support you/temporarily carry and/or tide you over until you get back on your feet.

I was more talking from the pov of those of us that *are* already the ones who are being depended & relied upon...

I still don't believe that anyone (w/ a conscience, at least) - when there were no other alternatives or family to rescue/save them - would themselves starve or live on the streets or...even worse, IMO, to have to watch their loved ones/those who depend on them, go hungry or lose their home...instead of putting food in everyone's bellies & keeping a roof over their heads; instead of selling (however rare & valuable) re-placeable pieces of plastic.

tl;dr

calling shenannigans! 

[atarileaf]

My collection is already divided into two parts:

The main part of my collection which is all the systems and games that I both have nostalgia for and are a lot of fun. This includes

Atari 2600
Atari 7800
Atari 800XL
Tandy Color Computer
NES/Famicom
SNES
Genesis/SMS
TG-16

The secondary part of my collection are games and system that I don't have any personal nostalgia for but are still fun. These I would sell first if need be

Colecovision
C64
GB/GBC/GBA
DS
Gamecube
N64
Wii
PS3

Problem is, even in dire financial straits, not a lot of what I have is worth a lot monetarily since I don't collect a lot of what other people consider popular or even rare so for the small amount I'd get from it, selling doesn't make much sense when I could just get a small loan or use my line of credit.

[sin2beta]

Problem is, even in dire financial straits, not a lot of what I have is worth a lot monetarily since I don't collect a lot of what other people consider popular or even rare so for the small amount I'd get from it, selling doesn't make much sense when I could just get a small loan or use my line of credit.

This. SEGA and XBOX doesn't bring in the big bucks. That's actually why I collect for them.

[dashv]

If I had zero cash flow and had to make ends meet. Or if me or someone in my family had a medical emergency and cash was the only fix. I would:

1) Sell my house
2) Borrow/withdraw from my retirement

Even if I sold my whole collection it would land me maybe $1000 if I was lucky.

Not at all worth the time I've put into it and I don't intend to ever waste time tracking down stuff I already have but got rid of.

Now if my house was on fire!?

I'd save:

1) My son
2) My wife (I am second on her list too. We've already discussed worst case scenarios before)
3) 1 of my backup drives
4) My soft modded original xbox because I can emulate almost everything else on it.
5) My cat
6) My wife's cats (we didn't discuss this one but I'm willing to pay for this choice)

Everything else can burn because in the end it really is just stuff.

[davifus]

If I had zero cash flow and had to make ends meet. Or if me or someone in my family had a medical emergency and cash was the only fix. I would:

1) Sell my house
2) Borrow/withdraw from my retirement

Even if I sold my whole collection it would land me maybe $1000 if I was lucky.

Not at all worth the time I've put into it and I don't intend to ever waste time tracking down stuff I already have but got rid of.

Now if my house was on fire!?

I'd save:

1) My son
2) My wife (I am second on her list too. We've already discussed worst case scenarios before)
3) 1 of my backup drives
4) My soft modded original xbox because I can emulate almost everything else on it.
5) My cat
6) My wife's cats (we didn't discuss this one but I'm willing to pay for this choice)

Everything else can burn because in the end it really is just stuff.

I'm sorry but I kind of laughed when I saw the Xbox was higher than your cats.

[maximo310]

If I had zero cash flow and had to make ends meet. Or if me or someone in my family had a medical emergency and cash was the only fix. I would:

1) Sell my house
2) Borrow/withdraw from my retirement

Even if I sold my whole collection it would land me maybe $1000 if I was lucky.

Not at all worth the time I've put into it and I don't intend to ever waste time tracking down stuff I already have but got rid of.

Now if my house was on fire!?

I'd save:

1) My son
2) My wife (I am second on her list too. We've already discussed worst case scenarios before)
3) 1 of my backup drives
4) My soft modded original xbox because I can emulate almost everything else on it.
5) My cat
6) My wife's cats (we didn't discuss this one but I'm willing to pay for this choice)

Everything else can burn because in the end it really is just stuff.

I'm sorry but I kind of laughed when I saw the Xbox was higher than your cats.

Save the cats!!

[dashv]

If I had zero cash flow and had to make ends meet. Or if me or someone in my family had a medical emergency and cash was the only fix. I would:

1) Sell my house
2) Borrow/withdraw from my retirement

Even if I sold my whole collection it would land me maybe $1000 if I was lucky.

Not at all worth the time I've put into it and I don't intend to ever waste time tracking down stuff I already have but got rid of.

Now if my house was on fire!?

I'd save:

1) My son
2) My wife (I am second on her list too. We've already discussed worst case scenarios before)
3) 1 of my backup drives
4) My soft modded original xbox because I can emulate almost everything else on it.
5) My cat
6) My wife's cats (we didn't discuss this one but I'm willing to pay for this choice)

Everything else can burn because in the end it really is just stuff.

I'm sorry but I kind of laughed when I saw the Xbox was higher than your cats.

Save the cats!!

After my wife and son everything else is organized by how quick/easy they are to locate and get out the door. My cats are all stupid and will hide in the most obscure places. I would most likely die of asphyxiation before I found them and got them out.

They are also indoor only cats so if I shoed them outside they would likely be lost forever or run over.

Besides I'll always have my pictures and video of the cats on the harddrive I saved.

...

Of course I am kidding. There is no way my son/wife would let me save "stuff" before our cats.

[maximo310]

If I had zero cash flow and had to make ends meet. Or if me or someone in my family had a medical emergency and cash was the only fix. I would:

1) Sell my house
2) Borrow/withdraw from my retirement

Even if I sold my whole collection it would land me maybe $1000 if I was lucky.

Not at all worth the time I've put into it and I don't intend to ever waste time tracking down stuff I already have but got rid of.

Now if my house was on fire!?

I'd save:

1) My son
2) My wife (I am second on her list too. We've already discussed worst case scenarios before)
3) 1 of my backup drives
4) My soft modded original xbox because I can emulate almost everything else on it.
5) My cat
6) My wife's cats (we didn't discuss this one but I'm willing to pay for this choice)

Everything else can burn because in the end it really is just stuff.

I'm sorry but I kind of laughed when I saw the Xbox was higher than your cats.

Save the cats!!

After my wife and son everything else is organized by how quick/easy they are to locate and get out the door. My cats are all stupid and will hide in the most obscure places. I would most likely die of asphyxiation before I found them and got them out.

They are also indoor only cats so if I shoed them outside they would likely be lost forever or run over.

Besides I'll always have my pictures and video of the cats on the harddrive I saved.

...

Of course I am kidding. There is no way my son/wife would let me save "stuff" before our cats.

Haha cats are important members of the family to have and are pretty cool. Both of my cats are indoor, but my brother and I have been exposing them to the outdoors for controlled periods of time so that they get to enjoy the outdoors, and it also helps them become more relaxed in a outdoor area in case something does happen where they need to get out of the house. I only hope that they aren't sleeping too soundly underneath a bed when something bad happens since they're both pretty heavy cats. In a case like a fire, I'd save my pets and family, then go get the most valuable stuff in the house, since most of my collection is housed in a secure backroom that is separated from the main house and would be safe from the fire.

[bikingjahuty]

how would you prioritize what you'd sell?


Thank goodness I haven't been in a financial position since 2009 where I've had to do this, but it is still something I consider if some emergency came up. Here is a list of what I'd let go in order, starting with stuff in my collection that I'm least attached to, to stuff that I'm really attached to and would only sell if everything else before it went first and I really, really needed to.


1. Extra controllers and console accessories
2. Multiplat duplicates ( example: have 4 ports of Resident Evil 2, and both the Genesis and SNES versions of Shadowrun, would keep best/favorite version and sell the rest). Also console duplicates.
3. Many of my guides and art books
4. My Sega CD and Neo Geo Pocket collections, including consoles
5. 98% of my NES collection (would keep Castlevania titles only)
6. My XBOX 360 and most of the games


. . .this is where it starts getting really tough. . .


7. Many of my handheld collections (PSP, Gameboy, GBA, DS, 3DS)
8. All my vintage gaming magazines
9. My Wii U and games
10. Video game statues and action figures
11. Most of my SNES collection
12. Most of my PS3 and Wii collection
13. Most of my original XBOX and Genesis collections
14. Most of my N64 collection
15. Most of my PS1 collection
16. Most of my PS2 collection
17. Most of my Dreamcast Collection
18. Everything else


Kinda depressing thinking about this, but I thought it's make for an interesting topic. Thought it'd be interested to see what other people's selling priorities looked like as well.

Was thinking a little more about this today, and I'd actually move the NES, SNES, N64, and Genesis games closer towards the first things I'd sell. Mostly because I'd use $150 or so from each collection and buy a flash cart for each of those respective consoles. In addition to this, I'd keep the games I grew up with until it became absolutely necessary to sell them off towards the end.

[blipcs76]

I recently started entertaining the idea of selling off the bulk of my collection to help cover the down payment on a small rental property.  However, my wife won't let me do it.  She knows I'll regret it.  But part of me knows NES, for example, has pretty much peaked in value.  Some titles will continue to climb, but anything under $100 is pretty close to leveling off (IMO).  I feel that gambling that NES values are going to start dropping soon makes sense, as I could sell off my collection and re-purchase it (and more) in a few years after prices have gone through the "2600 cycle".

Though if an emergency hit and I had to sell off my collection, here's where I'd start:

1.) Duplicate consoles and accessories
2.) Arcade games (bulky and can net a big chunk of change per unit)
3.) Non-Nintendo stuff (XBox -> PS -> Atari -> Sega)
4.) N64 -> SNES -> NES

[exonerator]

I wouldn't sell any of my games. It's simply out of the question. If I was caught in that much of a bind, I'd sell movies/music before that. After that, I simply refuse. I don't think I'll ever be in that situation, because I'm a bit of a spendthrift. And if I am in that situation, god help me.