the_wizard_666 | 1,325 Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 So I've been thinking lately...when I pass, I want the entirety of my collection to pass to my nieces, whether as a collection or the cash value of it to use as they desire. This is known all around my family, and I'm certain those wishes will be respected. The dilemma I'm facing is that, as they grow older, they seem less interested in keeping it as a collection. And honestly, I doubt my family would have any idea how to dispense with everything in such a way as to get anywhere near what it's actually worth. I'm physically deteriorating, and mentally I'm arguably getting worse. I don't want to leave a huge burden behind me, but if I cash out I honestly don't see anything left to keep me moving forward. How can I get things set up so I can enjoy it, but ensure they get as much value as possible without burdening everyone even more than they already are? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloves | 11,778 Administrator · Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 I'd say via education. Heck, point them here, hand them the creds to your account or encourage them to make their own (or do that for them). If it's your account and states that you've passed and posts "the owner of this account has passed and left us this account and this stuff, what do?" I firmly believe we'd be qualified and capable in assisting without being shady dicks about it. From there it's a case of education - "what I have is worth roughly this much, don't trust anyone who tries to private message the account with offers that are way below this number". 2 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickman | 3,986 Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 The reality with collectibles are that most people won't care about them. Some families are lucky and they create a long bond with them and the kid ends up loving the hunt of collecting and collecting the same things. If you have a huge game collection it is most likely they will just sell it in one large lot for like 50% of the value just so they don't have to worry about it. I've had a family member pass and they had a huge card collection. No one wanted to deal with it and sold it off for probably way less than its value. No one cared because no one collects cards in the family and they didn't care too much what value they got because it was one less thing taking up space. If you want to get the best value then probably assigning a friend in real life that knows the true value to deal with it would be the ideal solution. Let them have like a 10% cut of the value (or whatever you think is fair for the effort) and let them try and get the best value they can without going too crazy. You could also cash out yourself but keep the titles that you know are really valuable or will mean something to the family. That way it will be easier for them to manage and you will still have your favourites to play and look at. A smaller collection would be easier for them to manage and possibly hold onto. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Morbis | 2,088 Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 If I'm in the same city, I'd help them in any way possible, but as Gloves says, education is the key. Make sure they know about pricecharting.com and maybe make a list of your 100 most expensive items, so at the very least they'd be protected from shady folks trying to get Little Samson or whatever for twenty bucks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Tank | 960 Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 In case they don't want to keep your collection I think leaving behind a document that has rough values and a guide on how to sell would be best. You make them aware of the overall value and how to look up values in case they want to sell stuff. It also helps to know what stores have higher payouts for collections. @Gloves mentioned leaving your credentials for them to sign in to VGS. I recall a former member passing away and someone sold the items off to benefit the family a few years ago. Leaving anything useful for gauging value or contacts in a will can definitely help out your family very much. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Morbis | 2,088 Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 Also, tell them about Jeff at the Trader, as you know he's always looking to buy out collections and I'm sure he would give a bereaving family the fair value that they deserve... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_wizard_666 | 1,325 Posted January 7 Author Share Posted January 7 1 minute ago, Dr. Morbis said: Also, tell them about Jeff at the Trader, as you know he's always looking to buy out collections and I'm sure he would give a bereaving family the fair value that they deserve... That's an excellent point. I would imagine Jeff would probably give them a more than fair offer on a good amount of it. Maybe not some of the real oddball niche stuff, but definitely the stuff he could sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_wizard_666 | 1,325 Posted January 7 Author Share Posted January 7 I think the biggest issue I have is I don't really have much in the way of documentation. I don't even know myself what all is in the mountain of boxes, so even getting a fair estimate would be tough. I also feel like cashing out isn't the way I want to go either. While it'd be the best way I have to ensure getting the monetary value, I have more attachment to my stuff than I do to myself. I would honestly rather die than not have it, so selling would likely be the first step toward the end for me. Yes, I know that statement is pretty worrisome in it's own right, but it's how I feel about it. Plus, the money I make would go to fund my existence, and would thus diminish over time, leaving far less behind than I would like. I have no RRSPs, no insurance, and no real assets outside of the collection, so it's literally all I have. Probably why I'm so damn worried about it in the first place 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Morbis | 2,088 Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 (edited) Well you have hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of games, so it's definitely a considerable asset in monetary terms. Don't you have your collection (the games, at least) listed up on some website or phone app that shows their individual prices? Because that would be indespensible for your neices in terms of valuation of most things. Honestly, the best course of action would be to sit down with you Sister and give her a piece of paper with pertinent websites, apps, etc along with your login info and passwords and anything else that's important that you want her to know, then let it go and stop worrying about it and focus on more positive things! Edited January 7 by Dr. Morbis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerfestus | 3,846 Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 (edited) I mean you can let your next of kin know about the theoretical value of what they’ll receive if they do the work but ultimately it’s their decision how much of this received asset is worth their time to put in the work for? Uncle Steve‘s weirdo game collection is worth $100k?! I have to do what to get 100 for it?! Oh yeah dude take it off my hands 45 cash. You, the person to whom this is an important topic, will not give a shit for a variety of reasons. Edited January 7 by Hammerfestus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyree_Cooper | 755 Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 throw all in a big fire when you feel your time is coming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrslam | 476 Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 Mine will be the most epic estate sale ever. Expect to see a lot of my stuff in others' What's New in Your Collection posts sometime after I kick the bucket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonebone | 1,307 Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 The easiest answer is to trim. If you don't even know what you have and you are the "expert", how the heck will anyone else know what you have or what do to with it? You owe it to yourself to get an inventory and at least start understanding what you have before you make decisions. Reality is that the vast majority of inheritors won't have any attachment to the items and would rather have cash. Or they may have attachment to a select few items in the collection but certainly not the entire pile. It's also unreasonable to assume that the inheritor will have any passion / time / desire to look up values or to try and piece it out. Size also matters. Put yourself in those the inheritor shoes, would you rather inherit 10,000 items worth $1 each or one item worth $10,000? Obviously it's not that simple but the point remains. If you were passing down something you'd certainly want it a bit more curated towards items of value. Either way, the simple step 1 here is to figure out what you've got. If you can't do that then you can't possibly expect anyone else to care about it either. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doner24 | 1,196 Moderator · Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 13 hours ago, Mega Tank said: In case they don't want to keep your collection I think leaving behind a document that has rough values and a guide on how to sell would be best. You make them aware of the overall value and how to look up values in case they want to sell stuff. It also helps to know what stores have higher payouts for collections. @Gloves mentioned leaving your credentials for them to sign in to VGS. I recall a former member passing away and someone sold the items off to benefit the family a few years ago. Leaving anything useful for gauging value or contacts in a will can definitely help out your family very much. When Jobber passed away suddenly, a group of us that personally knew him sold his collection and gave 100% of the proceeds to his family. It was a lot of work, but absolutely worth it. That is the best case scenario. I have instructed my wife to reach out to some buddies to help with the same thing if something should happen to me. I’ve also talked to my brother about it with the key message being don’t discredit the value of anything, as stupid as it might seem to you. Do your due diligence with finding out the value before selling anything and don’t settle for 50% for a quick sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RegularGuyGamer | 2,013 Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 Do you have any friends? My best friend is more than willing to help liquidate my collection of my wife wasn't able to or didn't want to. However, I did go through and itemize everything I have once my first kid was born. Even my Pokemon cards. Price charting let's you scan barcodes or take pictures to make it more convenient but it was still a process and i had less than 1k items. However, I think you have to have it itemized and not just in a spreadsheet on your computer. It needs to be tied to some visual representation of the valuation of the games. When they can see by logging onto your price charting how much your NES collection is worth it will at least give them a starting point. My neighbor is an auctioneer and what happens realistically is this stuff just goes to auction. He did a collectors estate that has over 10M in collectables with Rolex watches and all. The kids didn't want the stuff, just the cash. So it goes to auction and they get a lump sum, buyers pay a premium and everyone is happy. I would reach out to local auctioneers and maybe get it in your will that in the event of your death that the process will start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Morbis | 2,088 Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 (edited) 9 hours ago, RegularGuyGamer said: Do you have any friends? My best friend is more than willing to help liquidate my collection of my wife wasn't able to or didn't want to. The problem is more that he collects full sets for everything, and I mean everything from Atari to the present, so his entire basement is full of thousands of games. As someone who's not living in his house, it would be like a full time job for many weeks to try and get everything sorted out, which is a huge ask for someone outside the family who's only motivation is "it's the right thing to do." In the final analysis, his two options are to either tell his family to sell *everything* to Jeff (a local store owner who buys out collections) or to deal with it himself right now and pare it down to something more managable. I decided years ago to get out of full set collecing for all consoles outside of NES/Famicom and TG/PCE due to how cumbersome and demanding it was both physically and mentally, and my collection still takes up two full rooms of my house, so the thought of having to deal with the sheer volume of stuff he has is absolutely daunting, even for an avid and experienced video game collector... Edited January 7 by Dr. Morbis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RegularGuyGamer | 2,013 Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 2 minutes ago, Dr. Morbis said: The problem is more that he collects everything, I mean everything from Atari to the present, so his entire basement is full of thousands of games. As someone who's not living in his house, it would be like a full time job for many weeks to try and get everything sorted out, which is a huge ask for someone outside the family who's only motivation is "it's the right thing to do." In the final analysis, his two options are to either tell his family to sell *everything* to Jeff (a local store owner who buys out collections) for cash or to deal with it himself right now and pare it down to something more managable. I decided years ago to get out of full set collecing for all consoles outside of NES/Famicom and TG16/PCE due to how cumbersome it was both physically and mentally, and my collection still takes up two full rooms of my house, so the thought of dealing with the sheer volume of stuff he has is absolutely daunting, even for an avid and experienced video game collector... To a seasoned auctioneer with the ability to advertise, it really shouldn't be a problem. I went to an auction that my neighbor hosted that had everything from commodore and apple computers to Rolex watches, to NYC Subway signage and even old vw bugs. It was all from one collector who essentially has a warehouse for his stuff. Hell, there was even around 30 accordions. Everything brought within 10% of eBay prices or up to 20% over eBay prices. People drove from 200 miles away and it was on 3 live auction sites. People under estimate the ability auctioneers have to drive traffic and bring above market prices but it happens all the time. Granted, my neighbor is a legend and has been doing it for 30+ years but I see it may more than I ever thought I would. The issue with game stores is they beat you over the head for 30-40% on their purchase. Auctioneers charge the buyers so you get a lot more bc buyers never consider the buyer premium into the price. Nothing wrong w getting 30% but to have an auction house come and prepare everything, and get top dollar is a luxury most people don't consider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_wizard_666 | 1,325 Posted January 7 Author Share Posted January 7 19 minutes ago, RegularGuyGamer said: The issue with game stores is they beat you over the head for 30-40% on their purchase. Auctioneers charge the buyers so you get a lot more bc buyers never consider the buyer premium into the price. Nothing wrong w getting 30% but to have an auction house come and prepare everything, and get top dollar is a luxury most people don't consider. The thing with Jeff is he's pretty fair with his payouts. He gives probably closer to 50-75%, and even more if it's rare enough that he figures it'll drive sales. Given that paring it down to me would mentally be equivalent to cutting off my hand, he's probably the best bet for them to get a reasonable lump sum. That said, I feel like some of the stuff even he would have a hard time with. I have a ton of one-of-a-kind items that would be tough for a store to put a price on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey | 7 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 I feel this. I have two daughters, and while they are into it now, I dunno about later. With that being said, they have a good enough understanding that there is money to be had. Not gonna get a bunch, but when it comes time someone's getting a happy meal. I won't be around, so they can fight over it. at 15 and 17, I am pretty fortunate it's not like explaining it to an 8 year old. But, they understand generally where to go and what to do to sell them. There's also a how to and log in for whatever I have related like price charting/email/ebay blah blah blah hidden where only the doctors will find it and for proctologist to decipher it. And a short blurb in my will directing them on the what to and how to. The fast way being finding a good shop and places/cities where collecting is strong. The medium way is to sell it as a collection on ebay/auction and other venues like consignment. The hard way, breaking it up, and taking that time. Profits to scale. Simplified explanation of course as everyone is going to have different ways/economies/circles. But it ensures it doesn't end up at a pawn shop, yard sale, or car boot. And of course how to take care of the collection if by some freaky reason they or one wants to keep it going. This is the ultra rare i think. I love my kids, but liking money never goes out of style and they might not want to deal with it. It's hard to say what they'll be into, and if it will include gaming at all. But make sure they understand what they have (before or after, i dunno if you want to surprise them. I am debating a glitter bomb to make sure my point gets across and post living still fucking lawyers offices up) and make sure they appreciate the reality of it. Be it's cash/sentiment/nostalgic/might fuck up the cremation so you should keep it, reasons, they'll know and smile when they go and do with it what they may. And prepare to accept the future of your REAL children. Little breath of fire. Cousin Castlevainia X. Aunt Hentai vs. Evil. Because having left the mortal coil, the kids I have chosen will be left at the will of my genetic kids. I didn't collect them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcgamer | 4,723 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Likely many of the old collector friends of yours know some of the rare or one-of-a-kind pieces you have, items they might have wanted for their collections too. Leave a list of names and contacts for those guys, tell your kin to contact them first that you passed, ask if there's anything in particular they think you have that they want. If they're friends and fellow collectors, hopefully they'd make fair offers and not be a turd about it. Then have the family unload the rest to Jeff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_wizard_666 | 1,325 Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 41 minutes ago, fcgamer said: Likely many of the old collector friends of yours know some of the rare or one-of-a-kind pieces you have, items they might have wanted for their collections too. Leave a list of names and contacts for those guys, tell your kin to contact them first that you passed, ask if there's anything in particular they think you have that they want. If they're friends and fellow collectors, hopefully they'd make fair offers and not be a turd about it. Then have the family unload the rest to Jeff. That could be the best bet. I'd still like a trusted person to be the guide for this, maybe @Dr. Morbis if he'd be willing/able, but someone else if not. I know a bunch of the local folks that would love to get a shot at some of these items. Some people have definitely expressed interest in a lot of things, but having someone I trust fully to make sure they're giving my family a fair offer would definitely ease my mind. And then from there they can sell the bulk stuff to Jeff because as much as I'd like them to get full value for every crap PS2 sports game, that would 100% be unrealistic, and a store would be a better place to unload the filler items on than hoping some random collector is willing to pay top dollar for NHL 2003 or some shit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doner24 | 1,196 Moderator · Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 18 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said: That could be the best bet. I'd still like a trusted person to be the guide for this, maybe @Dr. Morbis if he'd be willing/able, but someone else if not. I know a bunch of the local folks that would love to get a shot at some of these items. Some people have definitely expressed interest in a lot of things, but having someone I trust fully to make sure they're giving my family a fair offer would definitely ease my mind. And then from there they can sell the bulk stuff to Jeff because as much as I'd like them to get full value for every crap PS2 sports game, that would 100% be unrealistic, and a store would be a better place to unload the filler items on than hoping some random collector is willing to pay top dollar for NHL 2003 or some shit How about that ADD Eye of the Beholder guide ISO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcgamer | 4,723 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 32 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said: That could be the best bet. I'd still like a trusted person to be the guide for this, maybe @Dr. Morbis if he'd be willing/able, but someone else if not. I know a bunch of the local folks that would love to get a shot at some of these items. Some people have definitely expressed interest in a lot of things, but having someone I trust fully to make sure they're giving my family a fair offer would definitely ease my mind. And then from there they can sell the bulk stuff to Jeff because as much as I'd like them to get full value for every crap PS2 sports game, that would 100% be unrealistic, and a store would be a better place to unload the filler items on than hoping some random collector is willing to pay top dollar for NHL 2003 or some shit Yeah, I've thought about this situation before and if I don't offload and trim a lot beforehand (which I think I probably would), then this is the alternative I'd do. I'd be dead so the money wouldn't matter to me, and there's a few folks that I trust enough to make fair offers on items. For the more common stuff, maybe offer it out on VGS or other forums, people pay shipping and get one random game from your collection, to keep your memory alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_wizard_666 | 1,325 Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 1 hour ago, doner24 said: How about that ADD Eye of the Beholder guide ISO That's long gone man. I traded that over a decade ago. Got what I considered at the time to be a good trade, though considering what I could get nowadays I don't thing Chip & Dale 2, the Dungeon Magic strategy guide and $100 US was really enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Morbis | 2,088 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 4 hours ago, the_wizard_666 said: That could be the best bet. I'd still like a trusted person to be the guide for this, maybe @Dr. Morbis if he'd be willing/able... Like I said, I would be willing to help out as much as possible if I'm still in the area when the time comes, but I honestly don't know how much longer I'll be here in the city... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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