Are you thinking about selling?

[GPX | 1,369]

More a philosophical point, I think a lot of times when we sell, it often is related to our life circumstances. I often find myself selling in episodes and on reflecting, it often relates to common themes:

- need extra cash to buy something else of higher priority 

- need extra space

- keeping the wife happy

In my mind, I collect for part nostalgia, part the thrill of the hunt and part investment depending on the titles. However, when I do sell it is often related to life circumstances than any concrete plans. Maybe that’s just me?

[Cepp | 34]

1 hour ago, GPX said:

More a philosophical point, I think a lot of times when we sell, it often is related to our life circumstances. I often find myself selling in episodes and on reflecting, it often relates to common themes:

- need extra cash to buy something else of higher priority 

- need extra space

- keeping the wife happy

In my mind, I collect for part nostalgia, part the thrill of the hunt and part investment depending on the titles. However, when I do sell it is often related to life circumstances than any concrete plans. Maybe that’s just me?

The desire to sell tends to be a direct response to life events for me and the need to regain some sense of control. More than once I've thought about selling everything and going minimilist.

Edited July 13, 2020 by Cepp

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

8 hours ago, GPX said:

In my mind, I collect for part nostalgia, part the thrill of the hunt and part investment depending on the titles. However, when I do sell it is often related to life circumstances than any concrete plans. Maybe that’s just me?

I guess that's why I never get the desire to sell:  I DON'T collect for nostalgia, I DON'T collect for the thrill of the hunt, and I DON'T collect for investment purposes; I straight-up collect because NES is my primary gaming console and I want to have a really big library of games to choose from every time I go to do some gaming.  And that's it!  If I sold, I'd be selling from my actual gaming selection, which would inhibit my choices next time I sat down to do some gaming.  I guess if I collected based on feelings or future retirement plans, I might get the urge to "play the market" sometimes with my games, but I don't, I collect video games so I can play video games as the end goal in and of itself, so the thought of selling never crosses my mind.

[goldenpp72 | 1,231]

10 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said:

I guess that's why I never get the desire to sell:  I DON'T collect for nostalgia, I DON'T collect for the thrill of the hunt, and I DON'T collect for investment purposes; I straight-up collect because NES is my primary gaming console and I want to have a really big library of games to choose from every time I go to do some gaming.  And that's it!  If I sold, I'd be selling from my actual gaming selection, which would inhibit my choices next time I sat down to do some gaming.  I guess if I collected based on feelings or future retirement plans, I might get the urge to "play the market" sometimes with my games, but I don't, I collect video games so I can play video games as the end goal in and of itself, so the thought of selling never crosses my mind.

I think everyone has a slightly different reason for their collecting, but I do feel some are healthier than others. I know that sounds judgmental but it's important to know why you do something and understand how it impacts you. For me, the thrill of the hunt as it were comes from either finding something I actually want, or finding something I didn't know I want but upon research discover something new I might like. This boils down to my method though, I collect on most systems but I only collect the titles that fit into my interest (which happen to be broad, but still). This creates a sort of personalized library to choose from, it fits me to a T because it is me hobby wise.

The lines begin to blur though because some people get addicted to just amassing a thing, a manager at a game store I knew collected things just to have sheer volume, and didn't distinguish anything with it. 10 copies of one game, even if it's 10 copies of Madden 08, just seems more like a mental problem than a hobby to me. Many people just collect to collect though, it's important to note that divide in the community. By nature, people who collect sealed titles are likely only doing so for all reasons that don't relate to actually wanting to partake in actual gaming. Collectors for the sake of collecting, most likely bred by nostalgia, hype and perhaps some investment mindset, but not a passion for why these items exist in the first place. 

 

 

 

 

[zeppelin03 | 314]

I started listing more last night and it's feeling good to clear out some clutter.  Yesterday I hooked up the PS2 to the OSSC and 480i content looks really bad.  If emultaor testing goes will that's another round of stuff leaving. It is currently the SOTN/FF X machine and I wouldn't mind a bit more free space.

[DeuceGamer | 35]

On 7/12/2020 at 7:24 AM, Andy_Bogomil said:

I agree that a lot of people that have big collections likely don't need the money but when prices start getting to a certain point it definitely catches your attention and may be that extra motivation to sell, especially as you get older and your priorities change. One thing that holds me back from mass selling is it is work in itself (listing, shipping, etc.) but once the value gets to a certain point it's worth the effort and this stuff sells itself in the current market.

I think we have a ways to go yet. I could see relatively common CIB games for sought after franchises continue to climb significantly. The trends on most CIB games are going way up. Watch the 64... Mario 64 first print, Paper Mario, OoT CE... I could honestly see some of these games going for $250-$500 in the not too distant future for nice CIB copies. These were games that have been $100 or less CIB for quite some time and well after the initial boom in the early 2010s.

I have to agree it is a lot of work to list and sell large collections. I have to wonder how many people would turn down a straight cash offer that would allow them to sell with no work involved?

I’m not looking to sell but admittedly if someone had cash in front of me for the entire collection, I’m not sure what I would do. I would definitely start collecting again, no doubt. Havinf that much cash from selling though would allow me to enter the high end market and get items that are mostly out of my reach otherwise. It’s easier to buy twenty+ games valued at $200+ each over the span of a few months than it is to buy single $5000 games for the majority of collectors.

 

[fcgamer | 4,719]

If someone offered me six figs for the bulk of my collection, yeh , I'm out.

[GPX | 1,369]

16 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said:

I guess that's why I never get the desire to sell:  I DON'T collect for nostalgia, I DON'T collect for the thrill of the hunt, and I DON'T collect for investment purposes; I straight-up collect because NES is my primary gaming console and I want to have a really big library of games to choose from every time I go to do some gaming.  And that's it!  If I sold, I'd be selling from my actual gaming selection, which would inhibit my choices next time I sat down to do some gaming.  I guess if I collected based on feelings or future retirement plans, I might get the urge to "play the market" sometimes with my games, but I don't, I collect video games so I can play video games as the end goal in and of itself, so the thought of selling never crosses my mind.

Seems likely you’re buying simply of a gamer’s mindset? It also helps because you have a finite aim and space is not too expansive to fit such a NES collection. A lot of others (myself including) collect for multiple platforms and space becomes an issue as we buy more, which makes selling a necessary part of the equation (to fund for the next purchase as well as to create space filled up by unwanted items).

Also, are you sure you don’t collect for nostalgia? I find this to be intriguing if so, as it’s rare for a pure gamer to focus entirely on just one platform, and more so an 8-bit platform. Plenty of great titles that you’d be missing out on the 16-bit consoles and beyond.

[O.G. CIB | 415]

6 hours ago, zeppelin03 said:

I started listing more last night and it's feeling good to clear out some clutter.  Yesterday I hooked up the PS2 to the OSSC and 480i content looks really bad.  If emultaor testing goes will that's another round of stuff leaving. It is currently the SOTN/FF X machine and I wouldn't mind a bit more free space.

PS2 running in 480i looks horrible on a OSSC because of the way it deinterlaces. It's one of the systems that actually look better on a XRGB Mini. The new OSSC Pro is suppose to address this but who knows how far that is off.

[goldenpp72 | 1,231]

7 minutes ago, Mr. CIB said:

PS2 running in 480i looks horrible on a OSSC because of the way it deinterlaces. It's one of the systems that actually look better on a XRGB Mini. The new OSSC Pro is suppose to address this but who knows how far that is off.

Yep, I have a Framemeister and was going to use the OSSC for everything but the PS2 looks horrifyingly bad through it for the stated reason. PS2 is interesting because the system was intimately designed to work on CRTs but it translates into a less good result on modern stuff. The Framemeister handles it quite well, if the Pro ever addresses that i'd consider it but, unfortunately some of my very old systems are only S-Video modded, so I have a bit of a Frankenstein thing going.

[zeppelin03 | 314]

51 minutes ago, Mr. CIB said:

PS2 running in 480i looks horrible on a OSSC because of the way it deinterlaces. It's one of the systems that actually look better on a XRGB Mini. The new OSSC Pro is suppose to address this but who knows how far that is off.

I'm curious what the Pro will end up costing.  Aside from the PS2 and Saturn all my consoles are HDMI modded.  At this rate I would just buy a retrotink if that handled 480i better.  I could end up with cash on hand afterwards too.

[stephbm6 | 16]

On 7/12/2020 at 8:29 PM, Redmond said:

Did you send them the actual paper or the code via message?

I actually stumbled upon one of these ( the Hard Drive one ) and didn't realize how valuable it was.  Attempting to sell anything DLC related (especially thru eBay) makes me a bit nervous though so I've just held on to it the past year.

I sent the code through the eBay DM and also mailed the buyer the paper code since they wanted it.

Edited July 15, 2020 by stephbm6

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

6 hours ago, GPX said:

Also, are you sure you don’t collect for nostalgia? I find this to be intriguing if so, as it’s rare for a pure gamer to focus entirely on just one platform, and more so an 8-bit platform. Plenty of great titles that you’d be missing out on the 16-bit consoles and beyond.

Nostalgia helped get me get back into the NES in 1999, and nostalgia helps me to want to play SMB for the three-thousandth time, but it has nothing to do with me firing up the 1200+ games in the NES/Famicom library that I had never played before I started collecting.  It just seems to be the perfect middle ground of having good enough graphics that I can tell what everything is without going overboard with junk in the background (is that a platform I can land on?!?), along with super tight digital controls and a healthy dose of challenge.  I don't care about stories in games or drama or OMGWOW graphics or anything else; I just want tight digital controls, fun level design, and challenging games, and the NES gives me that in spades.

And NES/Famicom is not my only system, it's just the one I do 90% of my gaming on.  I'm also going full set for TG16/PC Engine, but outside of that and the NES/Famicom, all my other system libraries combined make up maybe 3% of my game library...

[a3quit4s | 4,093]

I always regret selling stuff so I’ve only been selling doubles if I happen across them. I did try to sell go go hypergrind and spirits and spells but I didn’t really put much effort into it. People keep saying the game bubble will burst but with my luck it’ll cost me more down the line to buy it back. 

[Tanooki | 4,930]

13 hours ago, fcgamer said:

If someone offered me six figs for the bulk of my collection, yeh , I'm out.

I'm on board with that.  If the amount were high enough, but it would NOT be someone looking to do some sorry ass bulk buy brow beating it down like 50% of value or I'd rather let it sit and piece it out.  I mean I had an offer on an item from the collection I have, well, had now, and I thought it over for a couple days and went with it.

I don't have a lot of regret dumping stuff anymore, after the huge loss I took due to a couple hard years that kicked off with unemployment that ran out (talking the earlier-mid 00s here) the slow band-aid hair pull feel of one loss after another dragged out sucked the life out of me as far as a lot attachment goes.

Given the asinine prices games are seeing now in part due to the virus and boredom coupled with all the money that got floated around and appears another round is coming now too, I have to wonder where it could go.

[maxlords | 36]

I've been slowly selling off for years.  First, it was selling yard sale finds to fund my collection.  Then, it was selling off some when I got divorced. Now, I'm in my 40s, I know I won't ever play everything I have, and I'm not a completist or too compulsive. 

Now, I sell stuff that I either finally got to playing and don't like, is available digitally on multiple sources, or has gotten too expensive to keep around, due both to either maintenance (like arcade PCBs that can get corrosion) or simply so expensive that it's becoming a risk to keep them in the house.

Note also that my game collection is uninsurable and not covered by home owners insurance, so there's a small but real risk that I could simply lose everything anyway due to fire or theft.  Insurance companies won't cover collectibles here in Canada, so IF I had proof they'd accept of every item I had, they'd pay a flat rate of like $15 a game.  When you start having stacks of items worth hundreds or thousands that you don't use and can't replace cheaply, that's actually an issue. 

 

Edited July 16, 2020 by maxlords

[NESfiend | 1,514]

On 7/13/2020 at 7:35 PM, Dr. Morbis said:

I guess that's why I never get the desire to sell:  I DON'T collect for nostalgia, I DON'T collect for the thrill of the hunt, and I DON'T collect for investment purposes; I straight-up collect because NES is my primary gaming console and I want to have a really big library of games to choose from every time I go to do some gaming.  And that's it!  If I sold, I'd be selling from my actual gaming selection, which would inhibit my choices next time I sat down to do some gaming.  I guess if I collected based on feelings or future retirement plans, I might get the urge to "play the market" sometimes with my games, but I don't, I collect video games so I can play video games as the end goal in and of itself, so the thought of selling never crosses my mind.

If its purely just about playing the games, why not buy an everdrive with every NES game on it? Then sell your physical copies and have a bunch of extra money? This is a bs thing in the gaming community. Everyone wants to act like they collect "for the right reasons" that have zero to do with collecting and value. People can collect for whatever reasons they want and the people who do care about value shouldn't be shamed by the "purists" who "only collect for love of playing the games." Strangely, many of those people own copies of dk Jr math and color a dinosaur. But Im sure they play them a lot!

Edited July 15, 2020 by NESfiend

[O.G. CIB | 415]

23 minutes ago, NESfiend said:

If its purely just about playing the games, why not buy an everdrive with every NES game on it? Then sell your physical copies and have a bunch of extra money? This is a bs thing in the gaming community. Everyone wants to act like they collect "for the right reasons" that have zero to do with collecting and value. People can collect for whatever reasons they want and the people who do care about value shouldn't be shamed by the "purists" who "only collect for love of playing the games." Strangely, many of those people own copies of dk Jr math and color a dinosaur. But Im sure they play them a lot!

I don't play games often (maybe 10 in the last 20 years)  I don't  own any everdrives because I like original/official things (not into faking it).  But that's me, anyone who wants to use everdrives more power to them and I would never judge them or have a bad thing to say. Some games are expensive and it's good there are alternatives.... there should be room for everyone under the "Big Tent" of gaming. I collect because when I was a kid my mother couldn't afford to buy me NES games and I use to go into Toys R Us, take the white slips and keep them in my room..... dreaming one day I would have them all. And to be perfectly honest I am happy they are worth a little something. 

[Tanooki | 4,930]

I've got quite a few kits, never wanted them, but prices just got more and more disgusting over time that it just became a reality as I didn't want to get into those lame annoying Pi setups or running some android micro console with emulators (or a PC with such.)  That said, I think it's also a fair statement these kits are well built, but not big corporate 80s and 90s well built stuff either so I don't count on a flash kit lasting 10, 20 years either.  So I keep both around.  The stuff I grew up with, and a few % of the total over that I really do enjoy are still on the shelf.  I'm where if you count from 1985-present around 450~ games I think which may seem large for 'now' but over time, it's a drop in the bucket, and I'm happy with that.  I could have thousands, but it's ridiculous and too bloody expensive.

As max mentioned a few posts up there after my last, you also run into insurance issues, even in places where you can get it insured as they'll never cover the true value even if you do keep lists or pictures.  And other stuff, time does damage, so recently I let go of my pinball machine as it wasn't used a lot for various reasons, and maintenance on it was going to be a growing problem as it was one of the more testy designed units where if the angles aren't just right, things fail to do as they should ruining it anyway.  I've stored the cash on that, when my PC fails, the next is paid for.   And as for the expensive games, it's a concern too.  According to recent ebay stupidity, I have a game sitting here that's worth a few hundred more than my pinball machine was worth which is sick.

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

8 hours ago, NESfiend said:

If its purely just about playing the games, why not buy an everdrive with every NES game on it? Then sell your physical copies and have a bunch of extra money? This is a bs thing in the gaming community. Everyone wants to act like they collect "for the right reasons" that have zero to do with collecting and value. People can collect for whatever reasons they want and the people who do care about value shouldn't be shamed by the "purists" who "only collect for love of playing the games." Strangely, many of those people own copies of dk Jr math and color a dinosaur. But Im sure they play them a lot!

I totally understand what you're saying, and it seems like a person would be either one or the other: "pure collector" or "pure gamer," but I am honest to God both of those in one.  I have a chart tracking every NES/Famicom game I've beaten along with notes (was it a No-Death Run, etc) with the goal of beating every game on the system, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME, I am a pure collector who wants to own every NES game CIB with everything that came with each game.  I know I don't need the cardboard to play a Nintendo game, but I still want to own it just as much as a stamp collector who can't send any mail with his stamps.

You are right, I could use an everdrive, but I don't want to - I want to play each game on an actual NES hooked up to a big CRT with a blocky controller in my hand, and so that's exactly what I do.  I want to own Color a Dinosaur and Barbie and every other game in the NES library, along with the cardboard they came in, both for gaming and collecting purposes.  Call it a sickness if you will, but I'm not just a gamer or just a collector; if you knew how many tens of thousands of potential dollars I had lost from the hundreds of sealed NES games I've opened (and will always continue to open), it would boggle your mind...

TL;DR version: What Mr. CIB said; there's room under the tent for everyone.

[NESfiend | 1,514]

11 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said:

I totally understand what you're saying, and it seems like a person would be either one or the other: "pure collector" or "pure gamer," but I am honest to God both of those in one.  I have a chart tracking every NES/Famicom game I've beaten along with notes (was it a No-Death Run, etc) with the goal of beating every game on the system, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME, I am a pure collector who wants to own every NES game CIB with everything that came with each game.  I know I don't need the cardboard to play a Nintendo game, but I still want to own it just as much as a stamp collector who can't send any mail with his stamps.

You are right, I could use an everdrive, but I don't want to - I want to play each game on an actual NES hooked up to a big CRT with a blocky controller in my hand, and so that's exactly what I do.  I want to own Color a Dinosaur and Barbie and every other game in the NES library, along with the cardboard they came in, both for gaming and collecting purposes.  Call it a sickness if you will, but I'm not just a gamer or just a collector; if you knew how many tens of thousands of potential dollars I had lost from the hundreds of sealed NES games I've opened (and will always continue to open), it would boggle your mind...

TL;DR version: What Mr. CIB said; there's room under the tent for everyone.

This post describes me very well also and probably many collectors here. I play my nes every day and I dont emulate. Has to be an original NES and controller. I have a flash cart now, but find the games play exactly like the carts. But Im also a collector who buys a lot of crap that has little to do with actually playing. And I'm not ashamed to say I know what its all worth and track it and it makes me happy that its worth some cash. 

Your initial post made it seem like you only care about playing and only collect as a means to that. But if you like CIB stuff, obviously you value collecting as well. What I dont like is people who claim to be above caring about or even paying attention to value at all. Its not realistic unless you have a very small collection. 

BTW, I also keep a list of what I've beat. I have no delusion of beating them all, but its nice to track. If you are doing that, you should get involved in the NES completions thread. A lot of the best contributors have the same goal as you and knock out games for their lists and the thread. 

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,055]

2 hours ago, NESfiend said:

This post describes me very well also and probably many collectors here. I play my nes every day and I dont emulate. Has to be an original NES and controller. I have a flash cart now, but find the games play exactly like the carts. But Im also a collector who buys a lot of crap that has little to do with actually playing. And I'm not ashamed to say I know what its all worth and track it and it makes me happy that its worth some cash. 

Your initial post made it seem like you only care about playing and only collect as a means to that. But if you like CIB stuff, obviously you value collecting as well. What I dont like is people who claim to be above caring about or even paying attention to value at all. Its not realistic unless you have a very small collection. 

I don't find that unrealistic at all. Some people (myself) literally don't pay attention to the value of something once it's been acquired. I can't tell you the current value of basically anything in my collection thats not Switch related since that is what I'm actively searching for to purchase. Ive had, for example, an N64 collection that I completed many years ago. I havnt been in that market in many years so why am I going to waste my time looking up values of stuff? My goal was to aquire the stuff, goal complete, I move on to the next thing. Obviously Im aware prices have gone up over time, thats natural, but I don't focus on the value of some random game(s)

Edited July 16, 2020 by LeatherRebel5150

[zeppelin03 | 314]

For a while I was all about the authentic experience.  Console with cart into a CRT.  As I learned more I eventually heard about everdrives and got one.  I then learned about the OSSC and HDMI mods for a flat panel TV.  Eventually I tried out FPGA consoles like the Super NT.  Each one of these steps was a departure from the true experience many of us talk about, but the games still felt the same to play.

After some time I realized I could get the same gaming experience with an FPGA solution (MiSTer) on my living room TV.  Sure I may be using an 8bitdo controller (solutions exist for a real controller) and a flat panel (there is an analogue out solution for CRT/PVM) but it is close enough.  It felt responsive and looked fantastic.  I realized I no longer needed 35 years worth of equipment to be able to play the games I enjoy.  With that I have been selling and the last few months have been great for letting some of those items I'm on the fence about go.  It was easy to hold onto a game when I would break even, but a lot harder when I would double or triple my money.

I get collectors wanting a library of history and content, but it isn't for me.  I just want to enjoy a game in my free time.  With that in mind I will keep selling while stuff is good.  It has helped pay down some debts and allowed me to work on other projects. 

Edited July 17, 2020 by zeppelin03

[NESfiend | 1,514]

1 hour ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

I don't find that realistic at all. Some people (myself) literally don't pay attention to the value of something once it's been acquired. I can't tell you the current value of basically anything in my collection thats not Switch related since that is what I'm actively searching for to purchase. Ive had, for example, an N64 collection that I completed many years ago. I havnt been in that market in many years so why am I going to waste my time looking up values of stuff? My goal was to aquire the stuff, goal complete, I move on to the next thing. Obviously Im aware prices have gone up over time, thats natural, but I don't focus on the value of some random game(s)

I'm guessing you treat your lil samson cart with a different level of protection than your copy of anticipation. And im sure you wouldn't continue to aquire stuff and pay market value if you believed/feared that the bubble was due to burst. If you really check that seldom that you have very little idea what your collection is worth, thats certainly your prerogative, but if you have a full set of n64 games, you are probably a pretty heavy collector. You don't worry about documenting and tracking value for insurance purposes at the very least? Thats why I started doing it as my collection got big, but I enjoy it. 

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,055]

33 minutes ago, NESfiend said:

I'm guessing you treat your lil samson cart with a different level of protection than your copy of anticipation. And im sure you wouldn't continue to aquire stuff and pay market value if you believed/feared that the bubble was due to burst. If you really check that seldom that you have very little idea what your collection is worth, thats certainly your prerogative, but if you have a full set of n64 games, you are probably a pretty heavy collector. You don't worry about documenting and tracking value for insurance purposes at the very least? Thats why I started doing it as my collection got big, but I enjoy it. 

I actually don't treat my Little Samson cart or Sculptor's Cut or any other game different then any of the rest. They're on my shelves in alphabetical order with the rest of them. For insurance purposes? unless I went and got specific collector's insurance for the collection then I don't believe there is a point to do so. Any  home owners insurance company is going to determine what they decide is "fair average"  per game, which for old stuff like this will be diddly shit, unless you maybe had receipts for all the purchases. I'm assuming most don't, I sure as hell don't. Those kind of insurance companies don't care if it's a Little Samson or Top Gun they'll pay you for the average value of a NES game at best.

Edited July 16, 2020 by LeatherRebel5150