I don't really have any, usually I buy my game used for less then 15$ except if I buy them when they come out or not long after they came out.
The most i've payed for a game tho is probably like 100$ for Shenmue on the Dreamcast!
I've been doing that a lot lately when I realized that my collection wont grow if I stress over peak condition. I figured I could play them now, and then swap out dirty and broken cases later instead of looking for (expensive) perfect copies.
People do not pay insane amount just because those perfect copies have perfect cases. Most people do swap them cases out and pay a premium for empty excellent condition boxes.
Box Inlay's manuals and discs can be in a not superb condition, a case can be broken while the content is excellent but this is not always the case far from it box inlay's could be damaged with a broken case etc etc wich is a good reason to upgrade a copy since those things can not be fixed or replaced without getting another copy.
Personally as long as the box is in a correct shape i'm alright with it, i don't even really care if it has the manuals in it, hell if it's not a disc i'll probably won't even have a box (snes,n64...) because it's just too much money. I'm a player first more then a collector so i'd rather buy more games in ok conditions than less games in perfect condition =)
fair enough, but I'm just saying this since there are some collectors who aren't to bright and buy a new copy just because the plastic case has some minimal damage.
Contents could be pretty excellent or mint also the box inlay, can easily be replaced with an excellent case of a cheap game.
Only for gameplay your right lose, incomplete is the way to go or emulation
CiB in very nice shape is the way to go for me though, i have so many games to play these days I don't mind getting a game way later than getting it in a deal lose.
As far as modern games go, to expensive for my taste, with the exception of smash bros that's a must buy on release for me personally.