Pricecharting as a collection organizing tool: good or bad?

[ApebitMusic | 130]

What are people's general thoughts on Pricecharting, not in terms of price accuracy or anything, but just for adding games to your collection and keeping track of what you have?

I have to say it was driving me up a wall just now trying to manage my small collection of GBA and GBC games. First off, the "count" it was giving me at the very top was off by 1. No matter what, the total at the top was off from the physical cartridges in front of me, which it took me a while to figure out... very very frustrating.  Also, "removing" a game from a collection seems totally hit or miss... sometimes it wouldn't "take". 

What software/apps do you guys use to list your games and share to potential buyers, etc?

[Gloves | 11,829]

I use a site I built myself: https://glovesoff.games

Ive considered offering custom collection tracking sites as a service, reach out if you'd be interested in being a Guinea pig. 

[a3quit4s | 4,124]

I use GameValueNow which is similar to PriceCharting. If I could go back I’d use PC though because it seems like no one is really upkeeping GVN now. I still have to use Excel as well because I buy a lot of aftermarket/homebrew/kickstarter games and also a lot of this generation which are never updating on the game DBs and I’m far too lazy to create my own entries. 
 

@Gloves I’m your huckleberry - I do need search functionality though so when I’m at the game store I can quickly see if I have a game or not. 

Edited August 8, 2022 by a3quit4s

[Gloves | 11,829]

11 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

I use GameValueNow which is similar to PriceCharting. If I could go back I’d use PC though because it seems like no one is really upkeeping GVN now. I still have to use Excel as well because I buy a lot of aftermarket/homebrew/kickstarter games and also a lot of this generation which are never updating on the game DBs and I’m far too lazy to create my own entries. 
 

@Gloves I’m your huckleberry - I do need search functionality though so when I’m at the game store I can quickly see if I have a game or not. 

Search functionality can be done, there are a number of approaches; some free some not. If you're serious toss me a PM and we can work out terms. 

[Tanooki | 4,950]

Nice basic database there, for those who are all up into such things, the only thing missing would be a few more API grabbed bits like the box art or maybe the lame inaccurate prices that VGPC spits out but works at least as a rough baseline.

I still use a basic website format, cut, dry, super fast to update.  Yet at times I wish it could do more, but stay relatively lean like what I just wrote up there, but so far those catch all apps woefully suck when you get into the weeds of accessories and other related misc. Some offer manual entry and they're hit and miss if they even work, or you're left with gaps.

[Sumez | 2,993]

Considering I've been unable to find a huge portion of the games I own in their database, or at the best they are being conflated with other wildly different versions of them, I'd say Pricecharting is really terrible for the purpose.

Edited August 9, 2022 by Sumez

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

I stick will google sheets. I use to use NA as my tracker but once that went down I decided to not rely on databases anymore since they can always just disappear into the ether one day

[RH | 4,966]

GVN was way better than PC when it was kept up.  When they let it go, it wasn't worth it because the data is almost never updated and half the time I went to login, the server wasn't available.

I've transitioned mostly to PC.  It's a good site if you mostly collect main-line stuff.  I know they very actively try to have "everything" and if you are willing to use their Contacts page to communicate with them, they will add stuff  you are aware of that's not in their DB.  In fact, after you create an account and are in good standing, I think you can add new games to their DB and they may need to review the entry but you do 90% of the work for them.

I have two gripes with them that are somewhere between minor, but not really major either.  First, I feel the site could use a facelift and a bit of usability tweaking and a few extra user settings that could make the QOL better.  Ok, that's a bundle of many minor issues by my point is that the site gets the job done but there are areas of polish that could make it feel like a top-tier experience, vs. a tool designed for the back-end of a very large company.  This isn't a big gripe, but you'll notice it.  There could be some polish applied to this product.

Second, I think people have issues with the db because when you add items to your personal inventory, my educated guess is they have back-end processes that run every 5-10 minutes that update totals.  For instance, you add a game and you want to see how this $1,000 updated the value of your inventory... but your inventory value didn't update?!  What gives?  Oh, and the total number of games for that library didn't update either???  ...but the game is visible in your inventory?!

This type of behavior doesn't make sense to a normal user, but as a developer I think what happens is they are managing the usage of the database.  Because so many users use the system, what they do is they add a game to your master list, and after a certain period of time, they run a script that updates various totals for your account (and everyone's accounts) in a master, summary table.  These summarized values are what you see when you go to various pages with updated counts and total values.

This kind of makes sense, and a disclaimer stating "Certain totals may not be updated for X minutes" under various grids and data cards would probably help people with the confusion.

But again, those are just middle-gripes for me.  Nothing major.

I'll end by stating the one feature I love the most is vary simple.  First you set a default type of item that you own (which is easy to do) and then in their master list of games, you can click Quick Add and it adds the game straight to your collection and it updates the button to orange so you can see that you've added it.  It's very simple but it makes adding games very quick.  I just alphabetize each list, take my photos of my games on my shelf and just go down the list one at a time, clicking the orange button.  Boom, boom, boom.

I still need to add my GB library as well as my GBA library and then I'll pretty much be done.  Granted,  that is about half of my games, but I bet I could get it done in 1-2 hours.  Probably faster depending on how motivated I am.

[Nintegageo | 582]

It's what I use. My main issue with it is they include things that I wish weren't there like the mini consoles etc. 

[AlternatorDelux | 61]

I can never take a source seriously that doesn't put a space in Game Boy.  But more to the point, they're probably good enough for strictly games, but should be avoided for things like hardware and accessories.

[RH | 4,966]

6 minutes ago, AlternatorDelux said:

I can never take a source seriously that doesn't put a space in Game Boy.  But more to the point, they're probably good enough for strictly games, but should be avoided for things like hardware and accessories.

Well... you make a good point.

[a3quit4s | 4,124]

19 hours ago, Gloves said:

Search functionality can be done, there are a number of approaches; some free some not. If you're serious toss me a PM and we can work out terms. 

I thought you had something in the works that you needed beta testers for 

[Gloves | 11,829]

1 minute ago, a3quit4s said:

I thought you had something in the works that you needed beta testers for 

I'm afraid you misunderstood. What I have is the ability and willingness to build custom solutions for collection tracking on an individual basis. In other words rather than a generic catch all for everyone, I'd build something for JUST YOU to use, customized to your needs. 

[Dr. Morbis | 2,091]

19 hours ago, Sumez said:

Considering I've been unable to find a huge portion of the games I own in their database, or at the best they are being conflated with other wildly different versions of them, I'd say Pricecharting is really terrible for the purpose.

You can create and edit entries to "fix" them.  Once you learn how to do that, pc is pretty decent...

[Sumez | 2,993]

4 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said:

You can create and edit entries to "fix" them.  Once you learn how to do that, pc is pretty decent...

That's a lot of work to do for several hundred entries. The database I'm currently using has every game and information about region, correct cover pictures, etc., and it doesn't slack on arcade games either. It's a lot easier to just point your collection at existing data.

The only thing I've found it regularly struggles with is all the recent "indie publishers", especially the ones putting out physical releases of older digital titles, which often aren't getting properly updated without manual user input.

[Trifecta | 235]

I use https://www.vgcollect.com/

It has a huge database, you can edit entries, add entries, export the lists you create, manage different lists and more.

Here's a sample of what a collection would look like: https://www.vgcollect.com/scott

 

[Brickman | 4,013]

20 minutes ago, Trifecta said:

I use https://www.vgcollect.com/

It has a huge database, you can edit entries, add entries, export the lists you create, manage different lists and more.

Here's a sample of what a collection would look like: https://www.vgcollect.com/scott

 

Seconded. I really don’t see a point in using anything else besides vgcollect or excel. 

[Tanooki | 4,950]

I'd tell anyone not to use VGPC on principle because their numbers aren't correct averages or otherwise.  I looked into the listings of stuff I bought last month on ebay and checked them on there, every one of them were incorrect to what I paid off by $5-10.  And no it wasn't because of shipping, etc, no way from fees, shipping, any of it made it balance out right.  I'm curious how broken their collection data is on the whole.

[a3quit4s | 4,124]

7 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

I'd tell anyone not to use VGPC on principle because their numbers aren't correct averages or otherwise.  I looked into the listings of stuff I bought last month on ebay and checked them on there, every one of them were incorrect to what I paid off by $5-10.  And no it wasn't because of shipping, etc, no way from fees, shipping, any of it made it balance out right.  I'm curious how broken their collection data is on the whole.

It’s definitely important to look at the sales history of whatever item you are looking at. It’s like 50/50 for me if there is actual recent sales data or if it hasn’t pulled something in months (for games that would have definitely sold in X amount of time, not rares that never come up)

Edited August 10, 2022 by a3quit4s

[Tanooki | 4,950]

59 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

It’s definitely important to look at the sales history of whatever item you are looking at. It’s like 50/50 for me if there is actual recent sales data or if it hasn’t pulled something in months (for games that would have definitely sold in X amount of time, not rares that never come up)

Totally, but what I need to make clear was I had two intents there.  One be aware of what stuff is going for with actual recent data.

Also DO NOT TRUST THEIR NUMBERS -- view the actual listing.  They're intentionally fudging their listings to show a value higher than it actually says in the green number on ebay, or even the green number if you factor in shipping too.  Whatever tools they're using, they're broken.

[a3quit4s | 4,124]

14 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

Totally, but what I need to make clear was I had two intents there.  One be aware of what stuff is going for with actual recent data.

Also DO NOT TRUST THEIR NUMBERS -- view the actual listing.  They're intentionally fudging their listings to show a value higher than it actually says in the green number on ebay, or even the green number if you factor in shipping too.  Whatever tools they're using, they're broken.

Agree. I’ve mainly just switched over to sorting eBay by sold listings. No greater truth than where all the other places pull data from plus eBay just keeps making it harder to mine that data from what I have heard. 

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

2 hours ago, a3quit4s said:

Agree. I’ve mainly just switched over to sorting eBay by sold listings. No greater truth than where all the other places pull data from plus eBay just keeps making it harder to mine that data from what I have heard. 

This is really the only way to see true value for things on eBay. 
 

Pc and The rest are just shitier, in-accurate and incomplete versions of the ebay search and filter

Edited August 11, 2022 by MrWunderful

[Sumez | 2,993]

Is it so important to know what your collection is worth though?
I get it for insurance reasons, but I have a feeling that's not what's going on here...

[Tanooki | 4,950]

Well it can be innocent curiosity or on that line, to see how much it goes up and down to see if things are getting worse or finally better.  But yeah, mostly, it's all about investment value sadly for most who would use such a site.  I barely touch it, it's toxic, but that's why I was surprised to find how the values it reports on individual listings are a lie and in fact are inflated.

[ApebitMusic | 130]

So I just signed up for VGcollect. The first game I inputted into my collection was Ninja Five-O, and it gave me an estimated value of $207, which is about half of what it is going for.  What's weird is it says "via pricecharting.com", but that I don't see how they would have pulled that number from PC.