Prices 5 years ago are why I stopped collection, and prices now have me tempted to sell my collection.

[jonebone | 1,307]

I'll give you a different perspective.

You aren't the same person you were 5 years ago.  We change over time.  If you have now lost interest, it's perfectly normal to consider selling.  

My only advice is to never sell it all at once.  You'll almost certainly regret it.  It's a rash decision and your entire life long collecting is locked into whatever the value was at that exact moment.  

You can trim all along the way.  If you're a set collector that's hard because trimming can break a set and once you've broken the set you'll sell a lot more.  But it's perfectly normal to just trim from a space perspective too.  Someone, either you or whoever inherits it will eventually sell it.  You might as well benefit a bit from it yourself too.

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

On 7/26/2023 at 11:20 PM, Code Monkey said:

The way I look at it, if it cost me so little to obtain, there's no real loss to holding onto it. My bills are paid from my job so what motivation do I have to sell? It's illogical to sell stuff just to get different stuff, that doesn't make any logical sense.

I feel like it's logical if you put money towards more practical things or even new hobbies if you no longer get enjoyment out of your collection. I sold a number of big ticket items and was able to cover the cost of a fence for our yard and a pool table which we use all the time and couldn't be happier.

OP, I wouldn't worry too much about prices in the future. I think we've likely seen the biggest jumps in value for the majority of games with the initial push in the early 2010s and then with the pandemic. I would definitely recommend selling if you don't have any attachment to the physical game. When I started selling I forgot how much I had and also never really thought about any of the games after they were gone.

[fcgamer | 4,727]

If you sell, you're not getting it back, ever. That's another point you need to keep in mind.

I had a decent NES collection and sold it years ago, there are times when I wish I had kept it, and eventually selling I guess got me back into collecting, only Famicom (and other machines) and at an even more extreme level.

If I were to sell off again, I think I'd get out of the community too, as I'd just be moving on with my life entirely at that point.

[portabello | 99]

Selling is key for me and my journey… while there’s nothing more annoying than having to re-buy items at a loss (that I had sellers remorse over)… it ultimately made me realize which items I actually care about physically owning vs the ones that took up space. All part of the purge and now I really love and cherish the gems that made the cut!

[Tanooki | 4,934]

@portabello I'd agree with that, I've had a few things I've ended up re-buying, but only twice did I really regret that mistake and that would be getting back into doing the DS/3DS as the luster wore off a year or two later and it rarely got used after.  The other was the NGPC because it got worse than before where loose price was complete price, but not many months after the stupidity wave hit it and the prices got further toxic so I just stopped buying/caring, so I sold it last year with zero regrets.

I'm currently selling my remaining DS/3DS system/games off locally.  If it's not a system I know I'm going to really make the effort on anymore it's outta here...this time done means done.  Next one I'm really strongly pondering is Gamecube as I'm starting to view it as a liability.

The more I flush, I find the stuff I'm retaining gets more use and I care more, like you said, cherish what made the cut, and even feeling comfy to add a bit.

[Splain | 2,571]

Every time I think about selling, I think of what I'd buy, and it's always video games.

[NostalgicMachine | 236]

All I know is, I regret selling my Sega Saturn and collection for so cheap about a decade back. All of those games EXPLODED in price. If you aren't getting any enjoyment out of holding physical, liquidate!

Edited December 6, 2023 by NostalgicMachine

[xelement5x | 66]

I still have tons of duplicates from years(decades?) of collecting I'm trying to offload but good lord selling stuff and shipping it sucks.  Not to mention the recent tax changes make me even less inclined.  Every once and awhile I'll got to a swap meet near me and offload a couple hundred bucks worth of stuff though which is nice since it's all in cash.

[Tanooki | 4,934]

Well they put a hold on it another year, use the weeks you have left as it's original rules still, and next year the plan is for 5k but I'll believe it when I see that one announced.  Currently trying to offload a few dozen items I don't think would easily go for squat around here due to local tastes.