Confused about snes ratings for scarcity

[jan112850]

trying to figure out rarity of snes games

on digital press R ratings are confusing. I know DP has been studying this a long time. Its not related to money or even complete games its supposed to be just related to cart availability vs scarcity.

Yet some games like "magic boy" are rated a "4" on DP and in my collectors guide even rated highly and yet i buy it on ebay sealed for $8.

Other games like chrono trigger are an R2, again saying that carts are fairly available, not sealed games.

Last nite I picked up a Shien's Revenge on ebay factory sealed for $80. its an R7 which is the highest R rating I have in the whole collection. Why isn't it more money? The collectors guide says its rare too.

Is it that some games are so popular, chrono, harvest whatever, that they are grabbed up immediately by collectors driving up the price but some others, altho rare, are not sought after much?

Would appreciate any help here

[Mayhem]

Demand. Pure and simple. A game that's in demand and the supply is less than the demand will always attract a higher price than a rarer game than isn't in demand. Prices are based on sole trading one-to-one with someone (ie. a price guide if you are making a private deal) as opposed to the voracity and unpredictable nature of something like eBay.

[jan112850]

I accept the supply and demand theory. But shouldn't supply and demand determine the relative scarcity of a game?

ie if enough people are wanting a low rated game such that its not out there to buy, shouldn't it be scarcer? Or are you saying that there could be plenty of them, but people want them, and they still aren't scarce and R rating is still low?

S

[hydr0x]

demand = price
copies in circulation = rarity

rarity has NOTHING to do with prices, that's why there are seperate values for them, just because only 2 people know a game is rare and you can get it for 2 bucks doesn't make it appear more often...

[jan112850]

ok so you get a game which is rare because of low production numbers but nobody wants it so its cheap? ie no demand for the game.

Or a game has massive production, everybody wants it, so its pricey but not rare?

Do most collectors care more about getting rare games? If so, why are the $8 rare ones still around?

Seems wierd. You can be a collector, pay $500 for a factory sealed game rated R2 which isn't that rare (unsealed i guess) but which everyone wants and you can pay next to nothing for a R7 because no body wants it but its really rare.

Whats more collectable? the expensive commonly found game, or the rare one which nobody wants?

[hydr0x]

it's exactly like that yeah, although no collector will pay the insane ebay prices, at least no collector from this board, we try to find the expensive stuff for cheap and most of us care more about rarity and playability than anything else...

[sniperCCJVQ]

ok so you get a game which is rare because of low production numbers but nobody wants it so its cheap? ie no demand for the game.

Yes, the best example of this is probably the whole NeoGeo market.

Or a game has massive production, everybody wants it, so its pricey but not rare?

Best example are Contra, Castlevania and Bubble Bobble on the NES.

Do most collectors care more about getting rare games? If so, why are the $8 rare ones still around?

Seems wierd. You can be a collector, pay $500 for a factory sealed game rated R2 which isn't that rare (unsealed i guess) but which everyone wants and you can pay next to nothing for a R7 because no body wants it but its really rare.

Whats more collectable? the expensive commonly found game, or the rare one which nobody wants?

You got it!

You got to remember that 99% of the people here (including myself) like to get stuff for "cheap" (even the rare thing) and most of the time, the stuff we get do not came from ebay but from trade or a thrift store where you can find games for 1$.