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Seriously, who is buying from Heritage/CertifiedLink?


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6 minutes ago, SealedWholesale said:

i thought platforms went out of business because the internet was able to tell you what the price was

They sell more than videogames. High end comic and sportscard collectors that are used to buying from there are likely transitioning over into videogames which they might not be familiar with. I don't think there's any more to it other than they are buying through the auction house that they are used to and they think whatever the games bring is the market price.

Edited by Bearcat-Doug
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I can vouch for the fact that I am not one of these types of buyers! It's one of those "benefits" of being me. 😅

All I can say is that in the past 8.8 years I have been spending money to start a hobby, I cannot create a "uniformed" collection. And that the only "premium" I will pay is for something that I feel comfortable buying. Which tends to be a newer item tied to a series that is authentically good. But even then, that "premium" does not ever exceed the $20 mark for me if there are no additional benefits being offered. Hence why I am not saving up to do a bid when I feel I can buy what I want and have it graded.

Plus unless WataGames starts to grade PS4 games (which share the same dimension as PS3 cases), expect me to be promoting CAS in the future. 🤑

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4 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

These guys don't seem to have a lot of knowledge on exactly what they should be buying so be ready for them to slowly start realizing what's rare and which variants are worthless. Once that happens, I have a feeling a lot of the non-sealed games will jump in price as well as truly uncommon games like Casino Kid II which is currently fairly affordable.  Good luck finding a box for that game, I've needed a manual for 5 years.

Are they collecting CIB NES sets? It seems like they would rather have an entire shelf full of Punch Outs or sealed good stuff than debase themselves with the peasant unknown CIB games.

Edited by DefaultGen
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Moderator · Posted

These aren’t just newbs buying this stuff up. Just as in other collectible markets, lots of seasoned vets doing speculating now days. In general, this stuff isn’t going to get cheaper. Sure, there might be dips on certain items and outliers, but in general this stuff is gonna climb as long as video games stay relevant, especially if franchises like Mario and Zelda, etc... stay active. 

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30 minutes ago, DefaultGen said:

Are they collecting CIB NES sets? It seems like they would rather have an entire shelf full of Punch Outs or sealed good stuff than debase themselves with the peasant unknown CIB games.

While true, a lot of the old guard has done the selling to the new guard. We get to decide how we spend the money from those sales.  You don't have to have comic book speculators becoming set collectors (they won't) to push up the oddball titles that the old guard will appreciate.  

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36 minutes ago, doner24 said:

These aren’t just newbs buying this stuff up. Just as in other collectible markets, lots of seasoned vets doing speculating now days. In general, this stuff isn’t going to get cheaper. Sure, there might be dips on certain items and outliers, but in general this stuff is gonna climb as long as video games stay relevant, especially if franchises like Mario and Zelda, etc... stay active. 

I think the NES market will peak in 10 years so we're along way from the top. Most of the ppl dropping big money on NES are 45-55 so it won't be until retirement starts to become a reality and also that their kids/ wife won't be burdened with having to sell everything off. Then they'll cash out and spend the money on travel, family gatherings, college funds, weddings, etc.

NES is a decisive console. I don't know anyone my age (32) who thinks NES games are good or even playable. I don't know anyone my age who even thinks 8bit graphics are acceptable. 

In my eyes, the SNES is the library that is still vastly undervalued. It is the peak of mainstream sprite based gaming. If you think Gen X'ers are spending a lot for NES games, I would wage Millennials are ready to make those prices look sane once they come of age. 

Genre for genre, SNES wins over NES every time and I think that mass appeal will reflect in the future sealed / graded markets. 

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26 minutes ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

 

In my eyes, the SNES is the library that is still vastly undervalued. It is the peak of mainstream sprite based gaming. If you think Gen X'ers are spending a lot for NES games, I would wage Millennials are ready to make those prices look sane once they come of age.

Millennial have been of age. They graduated college and started their lives years ago already. Most Besides that, the interest in physical things will be an early millennial thing. The later ones (born in the mid 90's) didn't even develop a gaming memory until the Gamecube era. The late millenials grew up in the download revolution of iTunes and Netflix and don't care about ownership proper. Millenials are old hat at this point and if they were going to make big moves on this stuff it would have been clear by now

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1 hour ago, DefaultGen said:

Are they collecting CIB NES sets? It seems like they would rather have an entire shelf full of Punch Outs or sealed good stuff than debase themselves with the peasant unknown CIB games.

No, it's all an investment but if there aren't enough sealed Mario games to go around then they'll start feeding on anything that has a low, finite publish amount.

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11 minutes ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

Millennial have been of age. They graduated college and started their lives years ago already. Most Besides that, the interest in physical things will be an early millennial thing. The later ones (born in the mid 90's) didn't even develop a gaming memory until the Gamecube era. The late millenials grew up in the download revolution of iTunes and Netflix and don't care about ownership proper. Millenials are old hat at this point and if they were going to make big moves on this stuff it would have been clear by now

Ah, I tend to disagree. Millennials are as old as 39 and I don't think most people hit their peak wage until around 45-50. Usually around 55 people reach their max salary and that's when prices start getting really silly.

I've seen it happen in trains 10-15 years ago. My neighbor was late 50s and spent over 100k in a couple years on trains. Now, 10 years later they're worth a fraction of what be bought them for simply bc the buyers have moved on to greener pastures or the to the pearly gates.

When a guy hits max salary, the kids start moving out or the wife takes we in a divorce, that's when the stacks start dropping. Right now it's largely classic cars but I wouldn't doubt if you see my (our) generation opt for vidya over vehicles when they reach that point in their lives. 

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1 hour ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

I think the NES market will peak in 10 years so we're along way from the top. Most of the ppl dropping big money on NES are 45-55 so it won't be until retirement starts to become a reality and also that their kids/ wife won't be burdened with having to sell everything off. Then they'll cash out and spend the money on travel, family gatherings, college funds, weddings, etc.

NES is a decisive console. I don't know anyone my age (32) who thinks NES games are good or even playable. I don't know anyone my age who even thinks 8bit graphics are acceptable. 

In my eyes, the SNES is the library that is still vastly undervalued. It is the peak of mainstream sprite based gaming. If you think Gen X'ers are spending a lot for NES games, I would wage Millennials are ready to make those prices look sane once they come of age. 

Genre for genre, SNES wins over NES every time and I think that mass appeal will reflect in the future sealed / graded markets. 

Eh I think your demographic is off.  I'd say heaviest NES players are probably about a decade younger in the 35-45 bracket, on average.  Maybe not the true types that drop millions in a year but heaviest meaning the majority of the "high end" action, in terms of 4, 5 or 6 figure deals. I also notice that the 40 and up crew is more into Atari while 35 and under would rather do N64 or Gamecube.  SNES / Genesis somewhere in between.

I also expect to be a lifelong collector, everyone needs a hobby.  Will there be natural thinning or reallocating of a collection as you approach older age, sure.  But no one is going to be fireselling their grails just to dump it and put money into travel or something like that.

With prices as they are today it's really not that hard to grab a game or two and pay for a whole trip.  Could be the same thing with college tuition, you sell a game or two at the beginning of a semester and there goes that bill.  Mint CIB and Sealed will always command a lot of value but sure there will be peaks that are unsustainable and dips along the way. 

Edited by jonebone
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23 minutes ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

Ah, I tend to disagree. Millennials are as old as 39 and I don't think most people hit their peak wage until around 45-50. Usually around 55 people reach their max salary and that's when prices start getting really silly.

I've seen it happen in trains 10-15 years ago. My neighbor was late 50s and spent over 100k in a couple years on trains. Now, 10 years later they're worth a fraction of what be bought them for simply bc the buyers have moved on to greener pastures or the to the pearly gates.

When a guy hits max salary, the kids start moving out or the wife takes we in a divorce, that's when the stacks start dropping. Right now it's largely classic cars but I wouldn't doubt if you see my (our) generation opt for vidya over vehicles when they reach that point in their lives. 

I see your point, but my view is that people in their late 20's and early 30's, though not at peak wage, are more willing to drop money on unnecessary stuff. Which in reality all the stuff we collect is unnecessary. 

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To answer the question: it’s literally just nerds richer than nerds like us who got bored of their nerdy collectible hobby and liked the way our nerdy collectible hobby looked.

also The game collecting scene goes way past a couple forums and Facebook groups for years. There are so many things that I know exist that I just have no idea where they went....that tells me there’s a massive silent majority in our hobby even before the new wave of collectors came in.

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5 minutes ago, ThePhleo said:

To answer the question: it’s literally just nerds richer than nerds like us who got bored of their nerdy collectible hobby and liked the way our nerdy collectible hobby looked.

also The game collecting scene goes way past a couple forums and Facebook groups for years. There are so many things that I know exist that I just have no idea where they went....that tells me there’s a massive silent majority in our hobby even before the new wave of collectors came in.

Believe it or not, I 100% get this and I kind of agree , though no sub-culture can exist without there being cross-meetings of people in other subcultures like hear or Facebook.  If you want to find expensive or rare stuff, you have to network.

I know we have a generalized culture here (mostly older gamers, got a bit of cash, some more than others but we're good a collecting and playing older games from the NES-era on) and I would simply assume that somebody around here would know at least one or two people in that other subculture that's throwing "stupid money" at graded games on those auction sites.

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3 minutes ago, snes_collector said:

I would just like to know what exactly they do for a living that they can afford to pay so much for games

Any collector that works as a software engineer at a FAANG with a few years into their career could outspend 99% of other collectors without breaking a sweat.

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16 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

Yeah, but that's also about the time they're putting kids through college.

True. Again anecdotal but, the guys I know personally to blow through money make 200-350k a year and had been for about a decade so things like 100k for college had been built for the kid awhile. 

Just from what I've seen is the type of people who spend big on collectables generally don't worry about money. Especially in my area where 450k get you a 5 bed 5 bath house. 

Hell, one of the guys I know who started collecting games is in his late 40s owns a local appliance sales and repair business and ended up buying about 1/8 of a near by towns retail properties. And he lives in the middle of Amish farm land lol 

He is definitely not on any Facebooks or IGs talking about games. He catches an interest and just starts buying what he wants to display. Similarly to the sports collectors I've met over the years. Successful business men in the same age group, same level of success, same disregard for "big" financial investments.

Edited by RegularGuyGamer
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1 hour ago, snes_collector said:

I would just like to know what exactly they do for a living that they can afford to pay so much for games

It has nothing to do with that for a lot of people.  It's as simple as liquidating one 4 or 5 digit item and using cash from that sale to buy the next thing.  If you've been collecting a decade plus then the items that were $100 then are $1000s now and you just move the cash from one thing to the next. 

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I think @jonebone's assessment is pretty accurate. It's most likely a lot of the older collectors upgrading their collections combined with new investors looking for an emerging market. There is also probably a third group who just want a few really nice display pieces that they don't have to research. That group is paying for the work of Wata/Heritage just as much as they are paying for the item.

I can't really criticize these buyers based on cost alone since I've spent a hefty sum over the last five years building my NES collection. If someone just buys 1-2 big ticket items on Heritage over the course of a couple years, they will have spent significantly less than me. And probably significantly less than all of us who buy stuff on a weekly basis.

I just prefer to avoid Heritage. Collecting for me is about building a playable set that has personal meaning. I'm not trying to upgrade or get the perfect mint item and I am very knowledgeable (thanks to NA, VGS, and all you lovely people), so Heritage is overkill. I'd rather have a roughed-up, well-loved box purchased from someone here, rather than pump money into the speculating side of things. 

So who is buying?

  • Collectors who are now cashing out on smart purchases and upgrading their collections
  • Investors/Speculators
  • Regular folks who don't buy a lot of videogames, but want a few choice items without the significant time investment required for eBay/forum purchases
  • Ultra rich who don't care about dollar signs

In my opinion, that should cover 99% of buyers. Maybe the other 1% are rabid collectors who swoop in for a good deal on a low-key auction.

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1 hour ago, jonebone said:

It has nothing to do with that for a lot of people.  It's as simple as liquidating one 4 or 5 digit item and using cash from that sale to buy the next thing.  If you've been collecting a decade plus then the items that were $100 then are $1000s now and you just move the cash from one thing to the next. 

Exactly this. While not always possible (certainly not with me) if you can sustain your hobby within itself by selling and buying, rarely if ever tapping outside funds, you've won the game. But this assumes you started early and build a baseline inexpensively. There's isn't a single human being who has been in this hobby the last 10 years or so who doesn't have a spreadsheet of games they regret selling, as early as a few years ago, so to the ones who held on do the spoils go.

Edited by Startyde
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