Retro Game Price Inflation

[faxmachine]

I have noticed that in the past couple of years video game prices for NES, SNES, Genesis Etc. games have started to rise tremendously on Ebay. It also seems that Craigslist prices are going up, too.

What could be causing this?

My thoughts: The internet and the amount of information that is readily available to anyone who looks for it. People see what games are going for, and will maybe sell theirs for a dollar above or below that price.

Ebay "Buy it NOW". People really do shoot for the stars when pricing their games.

I will stop there.

What do you guys think? Predictions for the future? Pros, Cons, etc.

[jobocan]

What could be causing this?

AVGN. More people collecting (a lot who just do it to "fit in" rather than, you know, fun). People being willing to pay the ridiculous ebay prices.

I mean, there are people around where I live who think Super Mario Bros is worth 20$... and people dumb enough to pay that much.

[mayberry]

I have discussed this amongst friends lately and have come to the conclusion that we're in a vintage game bubble, sort of like what happened with sports cards a few years back.  In the next few years supply will start to outpace demand as collections get settled, people move on, trends shift, etc.  At that time all the rats will jump ship and flood the market with the copies of Action 52, Earthbound, etc. trying to recoup their losses. (With the positive being that true collectors will finally be able to nab the pieces they have long sought for decent prices.) Things will eventually settle out to reasonable prices, perhaps with another bubble on the horizon with the release of Big Bang Theory: The Movie*. This card was $26,000 a decade ago.  That's your gauge for NWC or Air Raid, my friends.



*untrue, though regretably possible

[soera]

Its been a big discussion on my gaming society forum as well. I think its going to slow down soon. The big time collectors are going to have the expensive games and the not so wealthy ones arent going to drop the big money. Once the high schoolers of now get jobs and start wanting games from their past, its going to be the rise of 3rd and 4th gen systems prices (N64, Dreamcast, PS1, etc) and going to see the fall of cartridge pricing.

[madmax]

When i started collecting FFIII (CIB) was $100. That was the going price. Now im lucky if i see anything close to $100

[darko]

Watch the US economy too. When everyone has enough money to start traveling again at home entertainment is going to take a big hit. Sure, collecting video games can be expensive, but considering most other hobbies out there it comes with a very low barrier of entry. For example, I spent a lot more money on speakers, receivers, TVs, etc when I was really into film. One of my TVs constitutes about a year's worth of collecting for most people (the pricey one was ~ $2000 when I bought it). Not bragging, just making a point.

[matt]

I miss the days where I could buy an random lot on eBay for $10 and get 20 or so NES or SMS games.

[soera]

I miss that too. When NES carts were just found in boxes at thrift stores ... where you could drive around to a garage sale and the person having it wasnt googling every item they are trying to get rid of ... when retro stores were actually that ...

I also agree with the cost of collecting games vs collecting other shit. Some people collect cars. Games are still at least affordable on almost any budget.

[jcalder8]

I wish that I had been collecting during those days.

I figure that the prices will start to drop over the next 5 years and then be at a holding level in about 10 years. As the age group changes we are starting to get into the N64 era but I think that when we hit the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox era there are too many games and they produced too many for there to be a real drive to get them. Also the internet has been around for too long and that there aren't as many unattainable games. When I first started collecting I went out and bought a bunch of games that I had never gotten to play for the NES because I had never seen them but they are all readily available online where I could buy them today with no problem so a child growing up today can get any game they want and the only thing holding them back is money.

[kingrat101]

I think another reason why demand has risen a lot is also due to the inevitable fact that all video games will be digitally distributed sooner or later, making physical copies more in demand.

[varkias]

I believe as long as generation x and y are alive we'll see common retro games continue to decline in price and the uncommon/rare will increase.

[blipcs76]

On one hand, I like seeing my collection grow in value as the value of retro games increase.  At the same time, it's become a hinderance lately because money is tight and with prices going through the roof I can't always get what I want and often settle for filling in my collection with commons rather than being able to justify spending the cash on rares or CIBs anymore.

[teknophyl]

The change in price points has made it possible for me to jump in, although I am still holding off on the cornerstones of most collections (FF VII, an NES, etc). I noticed those have gone up (well, except for VII, which has settled down a lot).

I use PriceCharting.com and have noticed a lot of the things that went for a lot a while ago have dropped down in value a lot, relatively speaking. I've decided to stay away from the CIBs, though, unless I am going for one of the cornerstones.

[blipcs76]

CIBs have really gone up lately.  Five years ago it wasn't hard to get common CIB games on eBay in the $5 range with shipping.  Today you'll be lucky to get them for $10 (except for really commons like Top Gun or John Elway's Quarterback).

I really wish I would have pushed harder to collect CIBs back then since I had more disposable income at that point (homeowner now) and prices were much lower.

[tmagtuna]

What could be causing this?

AVGN. More people collecting (a lot who just do it to "fit in" rather than, you know, fun). People being willing to pay the ridiculous ebay prices.

I mean, there are people around where I live who think Super Mario Bros is worth 20$... and people dumb enough to pay that much.

I once had someone at a flea market try to sell me a regular loose legend of zelda (not even a 5 screw) for $60. They said it was a "rare limited edition gold version"