Trade vs Buy Dilemma

[LostLevel83 84]

There is a game that I used to have. Now, when I’m interested in getting it back in my collection, it has risen to a price in the hundreds.

I’ve never bought a game outright for more than $100. It’s a mental block or something.

I’m not a guy that’s super old school and remembers buying sealed games in the 2000’s for $10. However, I built most of my collection on shrewd buys and trades.

Does anyone trade anymore? Is there any chance I could trade $300-400 worth of games for a SNES game that I used to have?

[BortLicensePlate 638]

Why not sell the games and use the cash to purchase the one you want 

[Gloves 10,371]

I don't see why not, but generally I do find that people want maybe 1 or 2 things to equal an item in the hundreds. If I have a rare game I'm not likely (generally!) to trade it for a bunch of commons. 

I agree w/ Bort, and that's exactly what I'm doing right now. I'm trying to pick up a copy of Kuon and to try and lessen the sting of it, I'm selling some stuff on ebay that's been gathering dust.

[LostLevel83 84]

17 minutes ago, BortLicensePlate said:

Why not sell the games and use the cash to purchase the one you want 

I get this. I really do. It’s the whole paying more that $100 for a game that trips me up.

In reality, I would be playing with “house money” but it still feels very uncomfortable.

[RH 4,227]

18 minutes ago, Gloves said:

I don't see why not, but generally I do find that people want maybe 1 or 2 things to equal an item in the hundreds. If I have a rare game I'm not likely (generally!) to trade it for a bunch of commons. 

I agree w/ Bort, and that's exactly what I'm doing right now. I'm trying to pick up a copy of Kuon and to try and lessen the sting of it, I'm selling some stuff on ebay that's been gathering dust.

You know, I tend to be in that boat too, but for the right trade, those same "commons" (as in cheap titles) could actually start to go up in value over the next couple of years.  SNES stuff is likely on a steady upward slope that's not going to spike (think of the price line being linear, rather than exponential) newer systems, however, might not be in that hyperbolic spike yet.

So... trading that rare SNES title for cheap PS3/Xbox 360 titles might actually be more lucrative in the future, but it's hard to say. I know this can be true, but even still, I have a tough time leveraging my older rare stuff using thing knowledge.

[Gloves 10,371]

Just now, RH said:

You know, I tend to be in that boat too, but for the right trade, those same "commons" (as in cheap titles) could actually start to go up in value over the next couple of years.  SNES stuff is likely on a steady upward slope that's not going to spike (think of the price line being linear, rather than exponential) newer systems, however, might not be in that hyperbolic spike yet.

So... trading that rare SNES title for cheap PS3/Xbox 360 titles might actually be more lucrative in the future, but it's hard to say. I know this can be true, but even still, I have a tough time leveraging my older rare stuff using thing knowledge.

Breaking my own statement, I've actually done this recently. I didn't initially mention it because it's a specific case, but I did recently sell some CIB SNES games that I'm just not a fan of in order to fund my PS2 commons (and to help purchase Blood Will Tell). 

[LostLevel83 84]

@RHCommon titles for an expensive title is an assumption.

I’m totally willing to throw in desirable stuff for a game that is worth more. I’m also open to trade in someone’s favor. That is no problem.

[ThePhleo 2,007]

I trade all the time. Trading has probably been involved in at least half of my major transactions.

 

In 2015 I think it was, I traded Star Fox Weekend memorabilia for a loose Stadium Events cartridge.

I traded my sealed Original Mario Bros. 9.4 / B graded for cash + DK Competition Cartridge and Star Fox Weekend cartridge.

From 2012-2015 I traded high end NES games like Little Samson, Dino Peak to get bulk CIBs.

I traded a sealed ungraded FFF: Athletic World (which later graded 90+ I think) for a CIB FFF: Athletic World and a 90+ Felix the Cat.

 

Those are just the first ones I can think of too.

[Tulpa 3,001]

1 hour ago, LostLevel83 said:

I get this. I really do. It’s the whole paying more that $100 for a game that trips me up.

In reality, I would be playing with “house money” but it still feels very uncomfortable.

The flip side is that you'd have to have trade bait that either universally desired or exactly what the person who owns your desired game wants, and they're willing to part with it to trade.

Cash speaks everyone's language, though. Just something to think about.

I get your hesitancy, though. I've had similar spending limits as well, so I feel for you.

[LostLevel83 84]

Real talk: I’m wanting to get Pocky and Rocky 2 (SNES) back in my collection.

My best friend and I played it together back in the day. All of a sudden it’s a $300-400 game.

[Omerta 47]

I’ll trade more expensive stuff on forums for a pile of desirable commons if the situation calls for it.

If it nets me a mid-tier game or two that I’m looking for and I get some easy trade bait to as filler, I’m okay with it.

And since eBay hates sellers and attracts/protects a whole breed of slime balls, sometimes the better option is to make a swap with a trusted forum buddy for a bunch of potential quick sales to mitigate the risk of losing it all in one transaction. 

Edited July 31, 2020 by Omerta

[GPX 1,224]

1 hour ago, LostLevel83 said:

Real talk: I’m wanting to get Pocky and Rocky 2 (SNES) back in my collection.

My best friend and I played it together back in the day. All of a sudden it’s a $300-400 game.

Pocky and Rocky is one of the most rare SNES games as well as being one of the most awesome games. So it makes sense that it is priced at where it is today.

I think the issue here is that you are too firm on your principles on not wanting to spend more than original retail price (~$100). This isn’t practical for certain games on certain platforms, particularly pre-2000. So I can see really 2 ways going forward:

1. Have patience and advertise yourself of a “want to trade” for PnR. The key here is extra patience. Much easier to trade a top-tier rare for a top-tier rare, but much trickier to trade a bunch of uncommons for a top-tier rare.

2. Lump it up and spend more than $100 for certain games that look the least likely to come down to below $100. In other words, reconfigure your spending limits for certain rare titles.