Does the value of your collection make you feel guilty for keeping it rather than selling?

[CT | 91]

Short answer no, but long answer is that they are not worth too much (compared to others on this post). But I would sell in an emergency scenario, but very unlikely I would need to.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

Does the value of your collection make you feel guilty for keeping it rather than selling?

I want to stick that without reading any posts because I saw the question on the list of posts, and the answer was yes and has increasingly so as the environment got more toxic, selfish, and underhanded.  I got to a point where I felt very very uncomfortable holding onto all sorts of stuff, and yes I could really use the money for my own interests, but I didn't make that a factor either.  I felt uneasy holding specifically onto all sorts of singular items, games, or series of games(whole console or handheld setup) because of the environment.

That same environment also has had the opposite effect, I've latched onto keeping some stuff I'm not overly in love with, but know as I do, I'll want to come back around to it and refuse to pay the stupid fingers prices the stuff has been resting at.  Earthbound is a perfect example, I do like it for what it is, but I don't think it's a great game and don't love it as the game and series is more flawed than fine.  It's also a game into the hundreds of dollars as is the guide, I have $2 and $60 into them respectively.  Like hell I'd ever get them for that again.  So I selfishly as it is hold onto them because of that.  Yet I've had other things like a sealed Pokemon red if you recall, sold that one off locally for around $1500 in cash when it was worth easily $1K more.  It made me nervous having it I didn't want it in a safety box, and having it in a shadowbox as it's my favorite original art felt dangerous like someone could come in and break the window and grab it as a prelude to more next to it.  I wanted it gone, the value was so stupid and toxic for such a common title, it was a 100% burden so it went.

A lot of it now has ended up a burden over some years.  Out has gone the entire collections for PSone+lcd combo and games, the PS3 and games, the NGPC and games, my PCE CG2 and Duo and cards/discs, Dreamcast and Wii.  Numerous titles, fluff, accessories for others I've kept, coleco and other old tabletops, handhelds etc.  Same with related but not for same mental reasons vintage toys, antiques, and electronics.

It just didn't feel right keeping all these expensive toxic priced items as it was a burden having it just sit, have so much inflated value, and theft and manipulation pressures on it as well.  I've reverted to nearly exclusively buying video games (domestic) locally and when the price isn't near the online garbage fire.  I'm trying to move towards buying and keeping what I only care to use, exceptions for games I've held onto for like 20+ years though that haven't aged poorly.

[twiztor | 851]

short answer: no. i bought these games because i wanted them; it was never about their "value".

but over the last few years, my interest has been waning. seeing the absurd prices for some items has led to me contemplating letting some of them go. i have no personal interest, for example, in the Ubisoft Indiana Jones game. i've owned it since the 90s. i don't especially care about owning it. why not offload it? it's a game that if it was $5, i would hold onto it just because it's an oddity. but at the going rate....?

Edited December 8, 2023 by twiztor

[Tanooki | 4,933]

On 12/8/2023 at 4:39 PM, twiztor said:

short answer: no. i bought these games because i wanted them; it was never about their "value".

but over the last few years, my interest has been waning. seeing the absurd prices for some items has led to me contemplating letting some of them go. i have no personal interest, for example, in the Ubisoft Indiana Jones game. i've owned it since the 90s. i don't especially care about owning it. why not offload it? it's a game that if it was $5, i would hold onto it just because it's an oddity. but at the going rate....?

That's what I've been doing.  I'm at a rate now where I'd have to decide to take a decent personal cut and be like...do I really want to have Sega exit my shelf, do I hate my supervision that much, do I like these specific games anymore on some Nintendo system or perhaps are my mini arcades and LCD handhelds (G&W, TIger, etc) worth bothering or is the $ better?  The burden of wasted space and ownership against a toxic environment vs getting the money and relieving it all.

[cartman | 195]

No, the rarity and the scenario that i will regret not having it does. I don't actively consider the value but rather feel like the money spent years ago is just gone. I can reflect upon the value, and then get reminded. 

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

I don't really give two shits about the  value.  Maybe when I'm old and my nieces don't want it, I'll start selling it to save them the hassle, but for now I have no reason to care what something is worth once it's on my shelf. 

[Skorp | 383]

Rather have the games than the money. One certain game collectable, I turned down a $10k offer as I still would keep it than sell. So, no I don't. I collected from the beginning for the enjoyment rather than profit.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

^^That's how I've always felt, except now there have been cases the prices become so toxic I didn't feel good being the owner of the item and I got rid of it.  My Pokemon Red sealed game I got rid of, didn't like it went into the over $2K mark, felt like it was waiting for someone to walk by, see in the window, and go for it and anything interesting also near by.

[attakid101 | 267]

I appreciate all the insights, fellas.

I want to clarify a few things:

• I didn’t pay NEARLY the current asking price these items. I’ve owned them for years and they just happened to become desirable/valuable
• I don’t have some baller ass collection with tons of rare and expensive items. I’d wager I have a smaller collection than most of you
• One of the main reasons I don’t sell is because if I sold these items I would literally never get a chance to own them again. Not just because of the price, but because of their rarity. Over the course of my collecting journey, one thing I’ve learned about myself is I have WAAAAAAYYY more regret for the times I’ve sold than the times I’ve purchased

 

[goldenpp72 | 1,234]

Not really, but I could see the perspective for sure. I mean, we could always be doing something more 'helpful' or valuable with our money, but you have to remember that for most people we're in it for us. I've put a lot of money into my collection even if I have stopped mostly, however I also don't go on lavish vacations or buy really nice cars, smoke, or drink often. I also don't buy really nice clothing and other luxuries other people are into, how I see it is that at least the thing I enjoy has lasting value both in being fun to use, but also in some monetary retention I suppose. One of my coworkers spends thousands on shoes, so how I see it is that everyone will do what they are gonna do to be happy.

If it makes you happy you shouldn't feel guilty about it, if you think you're hurting your life a lot for it, then maybe reconsider where you're prioritizing if you don't see the corner turning.

I think a lot of this will be based on why you collect at all, for me the money element became an inhibitor because I was in it to get the stuff, not the speculative value aspect, so that ended up becoming much more an impedance than a benefit. Like obviously I care about its value because I already spent a lot on it, but if I could have not spent real money on it, I'd not care about the value at all.

If I sold my entire game collection, I could likely pay off my mortgage.. 3x over, but I'm also working on saving towards that with my lady friend within the next couple years too, so I figure as long as I'm able to stay on top of my goals it's fine to horde

 

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by goldenpp72

[NostalgicMachine | 235]

For me personally it doesn't, because I only purchase and keep the games I actually want to play, and the games that I actually enjoy.

I had several hundred NES carts at one point (432 to be exact!), and the majority of it was crap I never played. I reached a point where I realized it was just taking up space, and nobody cared except me, and it wasn't even close to a full set. I also knew I wasn't going to acquire the final few carts for a reasonable price anyway, so it was a no brainer. I liquidated a TON of my collection around 2014-2018.

Now I have like two dozen carts each for the NES, SNES, and Genesis respectively.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

On 12/16/2023 at 3:18 PM, NostalgicMachine said:

For me personally it doesn't, because I only purchase and keep the games I actually want to play, and the games that I actually enjoy.

I had several hundred NES carts at one point (432 to be exact!), and the majority of it was crap I never played. I reached a point where I realized it was just taking up space, and nobody cared except me, and it wasn't even close to a full set. I also knew I wasn't going to acquire the final few carts for a reasonable price anyway, so it was a no brainer. I liquidated a TON of my collection around 2014-2018.

Now I have like two dozen carts each for the NES, SNES, and Genesis respectively.

Smart move.  I hit that reality back in 2012 when I was about a 100 less than where you were.  I offloaded over 200 games and turned it into stuff for other systems feeling the writing was on the wall to keep ahead of the price ramp up curve which worked.

 

 

Right now I think I've mentioned it here, if not elsewhere I've been thinking a lot over 6mo now about the gamecube, really ever since my original day one unit choked largely oddly just being idle.  The stories of drive issues, cheap chinese replacements, finicky GC discs from age/wear especially the double density types and rounding that off with it largely ignoring price cooling put me off it.  I just added up what I have this evening and even with Cubivore gone to pay for a pet mid-year it's still a considerable sum.  It's just taking up space, the toxic value of it is a burden as much as the room, already contacted a couple local friends who asked about titles before.  I'm probably going to just kiss all optical gaming media goodbye here right after Christmas.  It'll take time to image it, but I priced it where it's more aggressive to sell even with the 30% bin on ebay over where many copies go.

I'm not down to even doing that anything near at all to 20-25~games per system, I'm still well over the 500 mark, but my perspective on it is that's nearly 40 years of games which is few per year.

[8bitsupremacy | 208]

Felt this way about the Panesians I owned...once I sold them off a giant weight was lifted from my shoulders; shit games worth way too much money.  To someone who values playability over collectability having those games never sat well with me so I'm glad they are gone...although, somehow I'm completely fine owning my Donkey Kong Jr Math CIB, which falls into that same category.  Typical collector hypocrisy lol.

Edited December 23, 2023 by 8bitsupremacy

[inasuma | 1,203]

Not at all. 
 

ok maybe a little

[Tanooki | 4,933]

Oh yeah the money is a factor, anyone who says otherwise is either pretty wealthy, in denial, or lying to look more above it all.

 

And on that note, I did pull the trigger.  I spent hours about a week ago and I photographed my console and it's hdmi cable/module hookup, the gb player with disc/sleeve/case, the wavebirds, the accessories and added controller to go with the console, and all the games, import games, and freeloader.  I gave friends until the 24th to pick anything they wanted at a generous discount, then the rest went up on ebay on the 26th of what I put up.  It was a bit much so I held back about a third of the games.  They're moving, and I'm pleased some have sold, a number have bids, and my guess given how I did it there will be some serious last minute sniping clicks.  I put it where the BIN was the average sales price and the start being 30% less made them very attractive.  Most of my stuff I'm the original owner of so it's spotless or close which helps.

When all is said and done my resources will be back to full and perhaps a bit higher too really from being tapped out largely from finally getting my new computer which delivers tomorrow.