Should I Sell

[dlopez9069]

I was thinking lately of selling off my collection. Reading through the forums though it seems that alot of people regret selling their collections later on. I was wondering what y'all think and if you've sold your collection when you were younger why and did you regret it? Thanks.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Selling the ENTIRE thing off?

I think it's inevitable that you'll have SOME regrets in the future (at least over your favorite/once-favorite games) if you do that.

My first game system was an Atari 2600, and I moved onto a Colecovision (with a 2600 adapter) ... much like the rest of the US in 1983/84 I was taken by the "industry crash" and decided to put my Atari and Coleco away and focus on ... well ... I'm not exactly sure WHAT I was doing other than gaming. Playing outside I suppose.

That summer my parents had a "garage sale", and being the intrepid lad that I was, I figured "I don't play with these video games anymore ... let me make a bit of spending money!" (God knows what I was spending it on if not games)

It all sold, and I can't recall how much I got, but it probably went in one lumped lot for a lot less than it was worth.

When 1985/86 rolled around, I was fortunate enough to be invited over to a friends house to try his new "Nintendo Entertainment System" ... playing classics like Super Mario Brothers, Top Gun, Mega Man and others snapped me back into reality ... and while I worked all through that winter shoveling snow-covered driveways in my neighborhood to make enough cash to buy my own NES, I almost IMMEDIATELY regretted selling off my future "classic" games and game systems ... as while they didn't compare graphically to the NES, they were still just as fun (conceptually anyway).

As the years went by, I regained and re-compiled Atari, Coleco, and other classics ... and I've bought and owned just about every major game console since.

While I haven't kept every single system in storage - and I have sold off bits and pieces of my collection when they truly became redundant or there was a genuine profit to be had - I've made a point to keep the real classics, and at least the CORE games/systems that I've enjoyed the most. (ie I sold off my N64 and GameCube, but I kept the GC games I love for use on the Wii and bought some of the better N64 VC releases.)

The lessons that I've learned over the years are:

Selling everything off at once is, like I said almost a guarantee for regrets in the future, whether you're a "collector" or not, perhaps you'd do better to keep the consoles / portables that you enjoy the most and a handful of your favorite games.

You're likely not standing to make a profit if that's your game. Games depreciate faster than just about any bit of technology. Unless your collection came at little to no cost, expect to not clear half of what you spent on it all.

So ... unless you're swearing off gaming permanently, I'd advise against an entire game/system purge. But, also, at the end of the day, it's your collection and it's your choice.

What kind of collection are we talking about here? Classics? Contemporary? Consoles? Portables?

[Dreamcast]

I was thinking lately of selling off my collection. Reading through the forums though it seems that alot of people regret selling their collections later on. I was wondering what y'all think and if you've sold your collection when you were younger why and did you regret it? Thanks.

Don't do it. If collecting crap is your hobby....don't get rid of it. If a friend comes to your house they will be amazing by your collection or say that your a waste of money.....

If there are somethings you spent forever trying to find...i wouldnt think its worth it. If you're selling this for money (desperately) Fine sell (some) of your collection. but its not worth selling it all.

[cyberfluxor]

Nice little story.

I was fortuante enough that my parents kept our Sega Master System and the couple of games we had (Shinobi, Wonderboy 3, Cloud Master to name a few) from '89 on. In the early 90's my brother got a GameBoy with a few games (Punisher, Mario Land 2, Tetris so some others) and I received a GameGear after a few years of begging in '96. I slowly got more games for my GameGear even up til today while my brother sold all of his GameBoy stuff around '99 when he was a sinior in high school. He's not a gamer at all and became a car nut (currently taking college classes for various car fields) so it wasn't important to him and doubt he regrets his dozen or so games (not to mention he can just come up and play some of mine). I didn't actually start buying games with a paycheck until I was 18 just over 4yrs ago, up til then I mainly emulated and gained interests in purchasing the real deal, collecting wasn't on my mind though it just happened with the gaming habbit.

Today, I have a more generalized idea of what I want after trying a good number of games from various systems over the few years and want to retune my attention in the hobby. I tried last month to sell a bunch of loose VCS games in hopes of using the money towards a select few CIB VCS games I've wanted for a really long time. Once I clear those out and get what I really want then I'll find myself eventually doing this to my NES games, then SNES and so forth. Although I'm not planning on ditching the hobby maybe if you reflect upon what you have there may be something else that really interests you and a change in direction is really what you want.

Oh, and in addition, anything you end up selling how much effort did you put into finding, playing and then reselling it? I've put so much time digging into boxes, pushing crap around on shelves and fumbling through junk that to just sell off what I earned doing such isn't worth it for me to just turn around and sell. You won't get that time back, ever and that's for sure.

[Garry Silljo]

People post a "should I sell" thread pretty regularly and the exact same advice is given every single time. Can one of the mods sticky a thread that's called "'Should I sell?' answers" so that we can have only one thread for the 100 people all asking the same question?

As for my standard answer to each time this is asked, ... Don't ask me, it's your collection and only you know it's value to you. It all depends on how much it's worth to you valued against what you need or will use the money for. I can't answer that for you and neither can anyone else.

[kentuckyfried]

People post a "should I sell" thread pretty regularly and the exact same advice is given every single time. Can one of the mods sticky a thread that's called "'Should I sell?' answers" so that we can have only one thread for the 100 people all asking the same question?

As for my standard answer to each time this is asked, ... Don't ask me, it's your collection and only you know it's value to you. It all depends on how much it's worth to you valued against what you need or will use the money for. I can't answer that for you and neither can anyone else.

If you read the guy's original post he was asking for experiences on selling collections and how they felt about it in retrospect.

Don't reply to the thread if you don't want to, nobody is holding a gun to your head.


To the original poster: When I've sold my collection(s), and I have done so repeatedly, I only miss a small percentage of the collections as there are always parts that are so hard to find that it's doubtful I could replace them, even with a fistful of dollars. Most games/systems/accessories will come again if you choose to get it all over again.
I recommend keeping a box of what would be considered 'uber rare', doesn't have to be valuable stuff either, just freaking hard to replace.

[dlopez9069]

Thanks for the input guys ohh and by the way its about 9 consoles from NES to Wii, all the Gameboys and a Game gear each with 50-200 games.

[snes_collector]

Put all your games and stuff away in storage or somewhere for awhile. If you get to missing them, than it's not a good idea to sell.

[tritium]

I came about money problems and sold about 5 peices or more of my dreamcast collection. Now i'm scrambling to get them back. I don't recommend selling the important parts of hte collection. It's why i prefer to stick to 1 system. So there's no doubt where your heart is.

[Berserker]

No, you shouldn't sell. Why?

Because you had to ask.

Seriously, when you're truly ready to sell off your collection you're probably just going to do it, and hold onto the few things you really want to keep. Hastily selling off large parts or all of your collection for temporary reasoning is what leads people to regret it later.

Maybe you could start playing through your collection top-to-bottom, making notes on which games/systems you're going to want to have around long-term.

[Barbarianoutkast85]

It seems like a noob (Level 0, user) posts a should I sell thread on here at least once a week. We always give the same advice, and if you have already decided to sell, were not going to talk you out of it. I think its just a waste of space on here.

[gum_drops]

I recommend keeping a box of what would be considered 'uber rare', doesn't have to be valuable stuff either, just freaking hard to replace.

Yes, exactly.

First put aside any items that would be tough to replace. As an example many gamegear and gameboy games are hard to find complete in excellent condition. Put those aside.

Then put away any games you really enjoyed when you were younger and have some connection with.

Now you have to decide what to do with the rest. Maybe split everything into two equal piles, one to sell, and one consisting of games you want to keep either to play or just collect.

Beyond that its really up to you, I could go down a list and tell you what I would sell but thats probably not a help.

[Barbarianoutkast85]

Yes, exactly.

First put aside any items that would be tough to replace. As an example many gamegear and gameboy games are hard to find complete in excellent condition. Put those aside.

Then put away any games you really enjoyed when you were younger and have some connection with.

Now you have to decide what to do with the rest. Maybe split everything into two equal piles, one to sell, and one consisting of games you want to keep either to play or just collect.

Beyond that its really up to you, I could go down a list and tell you what I would sell but thats probably not a help.


Yes keep a box of stuff thats hard to find, stuff you love etc. etc. I sold off my collection once, a total of roughly 2000 games. The only stuff I kept was Sega Genesis stuff which I'm very glad I did since I only need 30 more titles to have all the US released games. But I could fn cry for all the Dreamcast stuff I got rid of.

[bangtango]

Thanks for the input guys ohh and by the way its about 9 consoles from NES to Wii, all the Gameboys and a Game gear each with 50-200 games.

My advice?

You don't want to sell your Wii. It is one thing to sell an older system you've had for five or ten years and did get your money's worth out of, along with some great memories. However, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth personally to sink money into a current system like the Wii, which is still quite new, and get rid of it mere months after making the purchase. Even if you get your money back for that purchase, you have to sit back and wonder why you purchased it to begin with and what you really got out of owning it for such a short period of time.

Game Gear? Yeah, it may not be any great shakes and the library is mostly crap but it is portable and a portable cartridge game system is on the bottom of my list of things to sell. Even if it isn't that much fun overall, there are still a few games that you can have a good time with. You can take it about anywhere in the world and have a decent time killer on hand if you are stuck someplace for hours. Or days.

Gameboy? Same as above but Gameboy actually has a very good library.

So those would be the last three I sell. Aside from my suggestions, you may also find that some of the NES stuff may be a pain in the ass to reacquire if you end up selling that off. Mostly because of the price.

[Kamino]

i sold almost all my shit a bit ago. The only thing i regret is going through all the damn hassle of selling it. It's a lot of work. people are cheap. Lowballers will ensue, people will waste your time with offers.....and then not reply later. it becomes a chore of sifting thru the crap to find the decent buyers. THEN you have to get off your ass and get to the post to mail this shit - and hope usps doesnt lose it. Oh, and paypal will rape you for every cent they can on fees.
overall however, i'm glad to have the crap out of my life. all i kept is the current stuff.
I actually have ROOM in my bedroom now. I CAN SEE THE FLOOR!!! i have room in my closet. I don't have to have 2 damn deadbolts and a fence over my window, if i want friends to chill in my room because my roomate has all his xSOBERx friends over, we have some place to drink 40s and smoke grass. I couldnt even LET people in my room before, much less do anything except sit on my bed or in one computer chair in the corner because the friggin room was stuffed full. oh, and don't even get me started on moving. I'll actually BE ABLE To move now when the lease is up, because i don't have 4 truck+Trailer loads of crap. all those rickety shelves i had stupid old systems piled on? gone. firewood. those tacky plastic drawers i had carts in? in storage for now, likely just going to ditch them @ moving time.
oh yeah, and the temperature of my bedroom dropped at least 15 degrees once air could flow through it.
hoarding excess material possessions is bad karma. if you aren't using the crap, don't keep it!

Seriously though, i did ponder the decision for a LONG TIME beforehand - a full year, actually. one specific event was a breaking point, but I had been pondering the sale.
life is good. Video games are dumb. go interact with actual people instead. or go play outside.

~~Kamino - Rockin' in the 3d world.

[spoon]

...... one specific event was a breaking point....

~~Kamino - Rockin' in the 3d world.

You said it

"OMFGROFLCOPTERX I am all wasted. I think I will fall on these shoddy ass made shelves."

Selling your stuff sucks. I did it once. I wish I never would have. I was 100 carts or so from a complete NES collcetion. I am now at about the same point almost 5 years later. Emu is not the same.

I sold my stuff because I lived at home and I did not hunt anything down. The most hunting I did was usually on E-Bay. It was more fun collecting everything this time around. Got to meet some cool peeps along the way also.

Make sure it is what you want before it's gone.

[neuropolitique]

Sell it. It's the collecting thats fun for some people, and you sound like one of em. Now that you've amassed it all you're not sure what to do. I say just sell it. Eventually you may come back to it and start collecting again, or you may switch to some thing else to collect. Either way it's the collecting that fun.

Don't think I'm talking down to you either. I'm the same way. Which is why I have several different collections. I love video games, but do I need as many as I have? No way. I like th hunt though. The collecting is a fun separate from the fun of the games themselves.

Sell it, all. It will still be out there if you decide to start over.

[ncman071]

yea i dont think i could ever sell all of my stuff. i get angry with myself when i trade in a few games at EB games. I used to have around 50 ps2 games and now i'm down to under 25 and i regret it. I'm not about to get rid of any of my snes/genesis/dreamcast/n64/ps1 games. i figure with the xbox and ps2 games that i trade in from time to time to buy xbox 360 games, i should be able to re buy some of the xbox and ps2 game that i traded in. With a wife, student loans, and a profession in teaching, its just been very hard to justify buying brand new games at a $60 price tag when we have trouble just paying our bills some months. but thats life i guess.

[kazuo]

I would only sell my collection off under EXTREME duress.. and my collection is nothing special to begin with!

If I were you, I'd sell the stuff you could care less about, and stuff that you won't miss. Keep stuff that has sentimental/other special value to you.

Assuming you sell any of it at all. Most everyone I know (then again, I know few :)) that are video game packrats always regret selling off everything... and usually end up buying it all over again.

But it's a decision only you can make.

Good luck!

[SaturnFan]

I wouldnt sell. You will always go back to those games at one point or another. You don't want to have to rebuy later on for more money if you decided you wanted those games back.

Box em up and put them in a closet.

[Dark_Sol]

Well i thought about selling WHOLE collection a couple of times for the last 6 years. But what i really regret is TIME i spent on collecting. On browsing ebays, doing trades, going to post offices... This is what i regret. And so came to a clean conclusion that i will never sell my collection. I'd better donor some blood. lol
Actually sometimes i had nothing to eat. No money at all! But somehow i managed to balance. Sold some of very common and uninteresting stuff. Raised the funds. And so on. I guess i will never sell stuff like factory sealed Phantasy Star 2 for SMD and Maten no Soumetsu. I will regret i for sure!
I don't really care about money. I guess when i'll be around 40 i can easily buy same stuff in one blow. But i remember the sweat and pain it took to get some of the games.

[Garry Silljo]

It seems like a noob (Level 0, user) posts a should I sell thread on here at least once a week. We always give the same advice, and if you have already decided to sell, were not going to talk you out of it. I think its just a waste of space on here.

I pointed this out... it wasn't well recieved.

[DragonBomber]

Everyone made valid points, as the point that this is asked a lot was also made well. It really does come down to personal preference. If you are the kind of person that likes stuff, then you may be regretting it later. If you have some rare complete stuff that will cost a mint to replace later, you will almost certainly regret it if you ever catch the itch again.

Like Kamino, I sold my stash off (tho years ago). My room was wide open with space when I was done. I unloaded some on Usenet, some on EFNet, and some on eBay. I also kept a bit of stuff. Things sparked this though and otherwise I might not have gotten rid of as much as I did. This went in phases. When I split from my ex I dropped a ton of stuff partly because I was in a bad place and games seemed the furthest from important in my life. I also was thinking of moving and anyone who moves knows how lame losing boxes is (even temporarily). I sold a lot more gear when I was broke during college and needed to get major car repairs. I had no choice. I sold my Virtual Boy complete with most of the games, several of my Bomberman games, and even donated some classic stuff I had NO desire to try and ship. Heavy stuff and/or common enough to make it so not worth the time.

So, you really have to weigh your options. Sell what fills your pockets or clears up the space. If you sell too much, you'll just have something to hunt down in the future. That or something to admire in a friend's collection. When my wife and I get a place of our own I hope to have more game stuff out, and maybe buy up more. It all depends. I will NEVER be as much of a packrat as I was, except with DVD movies possibly. :(

Drache

[Mattiekrome]

I'm in the process of parting out my collection right now, in order to make room for baby #2. I feel like I've lost all of the collecting passion that I used to have. I have pulled some "favorites" that I will hold on to, but 90% of everything will go. I've decided that in the future if I get the urge to play, I'll pick up some of those USB NES controller port adapters and do some emulation.

[crisssybwoy]

If you feel the urge to sell just do it. You will know if you have done the right thing once they are all gone! If it turns out to be the wrong decision you will have fun collecting all over again. Just make sure you keep a few of the games you may want to play occasionally.