Value Increase of Games Lately

[jdkw50]

Hey all,

What are your thoughts on the sudden spike in video game prices lately? Is it sustainable or is it because games are transitioning more towards virtual copies now that retro physical games are being chased even more aggressively to collectors. I feel like unlike stocks collecting video games are virtually guaranteed to appreciate in value unless the video game industry decides to re-release physical copies for old games which is extremely improbable (granted this is NOT the case for every single video game, but I'm talking from a big collection standpoint).

Also let's share what are some of your games in your collection that have just shot up in value lately (past timeframe 1-3 months)?

-Some I've noticed are all handheld Pokemon games, GCN games in general including titles like Fire Emblem (GCN), Skies of Arcadia (GCN) just to name some.

[tripredacus]

I'm still of the opinion that collectors are in the minority when it comes to demand of common or uncommon items... in other words, collectors are not likely to be, or ever have been, the ones who dictated the values of items. Rather that values are determined by those active in commerce, resellers and the like.

Also be aware that in the United States we are seeing a relatively short time increase in inflation. Inflation occurs when monetary value goes down (since the USD has no backing, it is based on international markets) and when money is added into the economy from un-natural means. In recent months, there have been many bailouts and stimulus checks and business loans that the US Government has made available, and all of those funds are new. They are no redistribution and their source is not from taxes, it is newly created money. As a result, products and product-based services will go up in price.

Secondary market prices are going up for many things besides video games, but then again so are retail prices. As long as inflation is increasing, the increased price of video games may be closer to being related to that, than to any reseller activity or the potential buyer's clubs, price fixers or market speculators which do exist.

[Warmsignal]

People are totally spending their stimulus and unemployment checks on this stuff, I have no doubt. They're buying more recklessly than before, because it's basically free money. A lot of people have suddenly come into more money than they made when they were still working. Why not just pay the highest asking price on eBay for that game you always held off on picking up?

I'm not sure if it'll have a long term effect on game prices, or if it will ultimately contribute to a bubble bursting that is bound to happen with the temptation of flash carts becoming readily available. I can't tell you how many collectors I've heard recently, toying with the idea of off-loading their collection in favor of a flash cart. Combine that with further inflated prices people won't be willing to pay once they actually go back to work and stop receiving the hand-outs, and you have a recipe cooking for the bottom to fall out.

[Warmsignal]

DOUBLE POST FTW.

[bikingjahuty]

i think a lot of it has to do with COVID. I know that seems like a convenient excuse, but hear me out. For one, people are obviously spending more time at home, which leaves them to find ways of entertaining themselves outside watching TV and eating. I'm sure a lot of people who'd otherwise have written off the idea of buying an SNES and some games on ebay, are now wanting to seriously do it since they don't have anything better to do while being stuck at home. However, there is another big piece of this puzzle as well. The stimulus checks.


I'm in the process of building a new gaming rig and the reason why it wasn't finished weeks ago is because of the massive shortage in PC parts. Some of this is due to supply chain issues, but a lot of it is also tons of people rushing to various computer stores and buying new high end graphics cars, RAM, and Motherboards with the $1200 that appeared overnight in their bank accounts. I think for a lot of people who are heavily into collecting right now, that money is instead going towards games they maybe haven't purchased due to it being too expensive or not having the money to buy them. I know that if I was in the collector mentality I was in 3 or 4 years ago right now all $1200 of my check would have gone towards several high end, rare titles to add to my collection. I'm almost certain this is responsible to a decent degree in the spikes in value.


As to whether or not these prices are sustainable, I think the short answer is no. Obviously everyone's $1200 will be gone soon as will the stay at home orders, business closures, and other forces requiring people to stay at home. As a result, your non-collector 30-year old coworker who bought a Genesis and half a dozen games off ebay will likely sell it once he's able to go back to the gym and go out drinking with his friends again. This will cause a large influx of retro games and consoles, bring the prices back down. I think if the economy ends up going into a death spiral like many economists are predicting despite what the Fed is doing, then you could see a radical decline in prices as video game collecting will take a major backseat to people just trying to survive.

[bikingjahuty]

People are totally spending their stimulus and unemployment checks on this stuff, I have no doubt. They're buying more recklessly than before, because it's basically free money. A lot of people have suddenly come into more money than they made when they were still working. Why not just pay the highest asking price on eBay for that game you always held off on picking up?

I'm not sure if it'll have a long term effect on game prices, or if it will ultimately contribute to a bubble bursting that is bound to happen with the temptation of flash carts becoming readily available. I can't tell you how many collectors I've heard recently, toying with the idea of off-loading their collection in favor of a flash cart. Combine that with further inflated prices people won't be willing to pay once they actually go back to work and stop receiving the hand-outs, and you have a recipe cooking for the bottom to fall out.

Hit the nail on the head

[wolff242]

I agree 100% with the above. With time and a little extra money (Assuming they still have a source of income right now) i think a lot of people are on a nostalgia train, going back to happier times through gaming. Maybe they dusted off a console that's been sitting in the closet for a few years, and now want to play a few games they missed back in that gen. I've noticed a LOT of older games stock dry up online, I can't imagine all of a sudden people have decided to collect older games.

[ignition365]

Yeah, it's a temporary up with the checks folks are getting, but as things get worse economically, I think we'll start seeing folks dumping stuff and prices fluctuating because demand will go down and supply will go up.

[sworddude]

People are totally spending their stimulus and unemployment checks on this stuff, I have no doubt. They're buying more recklessly than before, because it's basically free money. A lot of people have suddenly come into more money than they made when they were still working. Why not just pay the highest asking price on eBay for that game you always held off on picking up?

I'm not sure if it'll have a long term effect on game prices, or if it will ultimately contribute to a bubble bursting that is bound to happen with the temptation of flash carts becoming readily available. I can't tell you how many collectors I've heard recently, toying with the idea of off-loading their collection in favor of a flash cart. Combine that with further inflated prices people won't be willing to pay once they actually go back to work and stop receiving the hand-outs, and you have a recipe cooking for the bottom to fall out.

While I agree with most of your points your forgetting something though

People can't go on vacation they can't go to the movies spend their money in restaurants concerts parties themeparks etc etc. people who still have an income can't spend their money aside from buying stuff online compared to a normal situation there are more funds available for this kinda stuff since they can't spend it outside like usual.

Your literally cutting of a ton of options in wich people usually spend their money . and a ton of those are pretty pricy in wich you usually won't have that much money left. atm online buying not only for retro games is at an all time high. instead of focussing their money on the usual stuff that is a money sink most spendings are no focussed on online shopping. Bigger online stores sales have multiplied big time new and old stuff. People really save allot of money by all those things outside being closed, money and entertainment has to go somewhere after all.

[ignition365]

People are totally spending their stimulus and unemployment checks on this stuff, I have no doubt. They're buying more recklessly than before, because it's basically free money. A lot of people have suddenly come into more money than they made when they were still working. Why not just pay the highest asking price on eBay for that game you always held off on picking up?

I'm not sure if it'll have a long term effect on game prices, or if it will ultimately contribute to a bubble bursting that is bound to happen with the temptation of flash carts becoming readily available. I can't tell you how many collectors I've heard recently, toying with the idea of off-loading their collection in favor of a flash cart. Combine that with further inflated prices people won't be willing to pay once they actually go back to work and stop receiving the hand-outs, and you have a recipe cooking for the bottom to fall out.

While I agree with most of your points your forgetting something though

People can't go on vacation they can't go to the movies spend their money in restaurants concerts parties themeparks etc etc. people who still have an income can't spend their money aside from buying stuff online compared to a normal situation there are more funds available for this kinda stuff since they can't spend it outside like usual.

Your literally cut of a ton of things that people usually spend their money on. and a ton of those are pretty pricy in wich you usually won't have that much money left. atm online buying not only for retro games is at an all time high. instead of focussing their money on the usual stuff that is a money sink most spendings are no focussed on online shopping. Bigger online stores sales have multiplied big time new and old stuff.

While this is true, I think a lot of folks will turn to digital.

[sworddude]

People are totally spending their stimulus and unemployment checks on this stuff, I have no doubt. They're buying more recklessly than before, because it's basically free money. A lot of people have suddenly come into more money than they made when they were still working. Why not just pay the highest asking price on eBay for that game you always held off on picking up?

I'm not sure if it'll have a long term effect on game prices, or if it will ultimately contribute to a bubble bursting that is bound to happen with the temptation of flash carts becoming readily available. I can't tell you how many collectors I've heard recently, toying with the idea of off-loading their collection in favor of a flash cart. Combine that with further inflated prices people won't be willing to pay once they actually go back to work and stop receiving the hand-outs, and you have a recipe cooking for the bottom to fall out.

While I agree with most of your points your forgetting something though

People can't go on vacation they can't go to the movies spend their money in restaurants concerts parties themeparks etc etc. people who still have an income can't spend their money aside from buying stuff online compared to a normal situation there are more funds available for this kinda stuff since they can't spend it outside like usual.

Your literally cut of a ton of things that people usually spend their money on. and a ton of those are pretty pricy in wich you usually won't have that much money left. atm online buying not only for retro games is at an all time high. instead of focussing their money on the usual stuff that is a money sink most spendings are no focussed on online shopping. Bigger online stores sales have multiplied big time new and old stuff.

While this is true, I think a lot of folks will turn to digital.

Sure but I'm not only talking about retro games

Online shopping as a whole is at an all time high right now. digital physical new old doesn't matter.

people have money in their pocket and they can't spend it like usual they have more money left atm. online shopping fills those needs.



_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Still if where going back on topic

Considering what kinds of games are going up in value it's usually pretty common or sought after playable stuff

Mostly players that drive up them prices atm not collectors, a ton of rare stuff even the good things have same kinds a value, mainly the more common hyped games that have risen in price.

mario 64, contra, silent hill, resident evil, crash bandicoot that kinda stuff.

I highly doubt that a reseller is dumb enough to buy those common sought after games at them current high prices.

obviously when all is said and done prices will probably return to pre corona times.

[NickAwesome]

This group has been so full of people saying the bubble is going to pop and everything will become worthless for years and years. The stimulus checks definitely have caused a massive spike.  Once economic reality hits for some people, we will see some plateauing of price for many commons that have shot up and many will drop back down to pre-pandemic levels. Some may even drop further below that. But rare low print games that have all the sudden doubled, tripled or even more, don't expect the same drops in price. This is the new reality. 

[bikingjahuty]

This group has been so full of people saying the bubble is going to pop and everything will become worthless for years and years. The stimulus checks definitely have caused a massive spike.  Once economic reality hits for some people, we will see some plateauing of price for many commons that have shot up and many will drop back down to pre-pandemic levels. Some may even drop further below that. But rare low print games that have all the sudden doubled, tripled or even more, don't expect the same drops in price. This is the new reality.

I gave up on the bubble theory, but I am a firm believer in the decline theory. In fact, we were already seeing it happen before all the COVID shit started. I think that once stuff starts to reopen more and fewer and fewer people worry about getting sick we'll start seeing a pretty large purge which will bring prices down. I think some rare stuff will go up, but most will go down to some degree over time. I don't think Little Samson is ever going to be a sub-$100 game ever again, not even close, but maybe settle around $500 or $600 again. Some of the absolute rarest stuff like NWC or Stadium Events will never drop in price, and I can even see some of that stuff being like certain Gold and Silver Age comics that never depreciate.

[ffxik]

I would say that everybody here is pretty much correct in their assessment of the situation.  When people in my area got their stimulus checks and or unemployment they have cleaned out every Walmart and game store in the area.  They aren't considering the long term.  Which is great for me since more than a few have already started selling stuff to make ends meet and I've been getting it on the cheap.

I suspect when stores are able to replenish their stock we should start to see prices come down on current stuff.  The older stuff will too when their money pool dries up and nobody is buying.  As far the rare games go, it could become the new norm.  It depends on how bad things get.

[ancestralspirit]

At the moment i'd say prices are spiking because shops know that people are going to be bored shitless indoors.
The biggest forms of entertainment in households are streaming tv and film services like Netflix, and gaming.
It stands to reason that prices of games would be hiked for this since now people are super desperate to find ways to entertain themselves.

Completely unrelated to covid, i would think the other two main reasons are:

1. Nearing the end of a console generation - We tend to see these spikes in game prices when nearing the end of a console generation, and since we're nearing the end of one now, i'd say you'll be seeing those price increases in some of the older PS4 and XBoxOne titles more often.

2. Limited print runs and single runs - I noticed this very recently with Moss for PS4VR. I saw Moss in shops for aaaaggges at a price of around £10 and when those started disappearing, the prices have shot up to £20+, some people completely taking the piss with some prices. A single print run of a game can hike a price up massively, especially when people suddenly realise it's happening and snap it up as fast as possible. People then notice a game is selling out, and then the prices shoot up exponentially.