Would You Sell Your Collection?

[Videogamerdaryll]

Yes I'd sell everything..

Make me an offer,come get it...

[sparf]

I've done it once already.

Back in the dark days. The before time.

When I was 17, I started working at a major game retailer. Back then, they still did a booming trade in NES, SNES, and Genesis (Saturn and SegaCD were off the shelves by this point). Working NES systems back then were so hard to keep in stock that they were priced at 99.99 USD, and we gave a whopping between $45 and $60 in trade credit for them.

The PS2 was about to launch when I started. And then, a year later, the XBox (which I hated and still do to this day), and the Gamecube launched. In the intervening period, I began to trade in a lot of my old game collection in favor of store credit, which I then used along with my 20% Employee Discount to procure new things, or at least, newer systems from the used racks, and some PC games. I figured that I could just use emulators and it would be fine for me. I kept my NES Toaster and my SNES, but everything else was at least considered as trade fodder. One of the only things I got in this manner that I am not ashamed of is my copy of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night which was still available new.

Fast forward to my third and final year there, when I was a third key and then assistant manager. I regularly spent huge chunks of my paycheck, quite irresponsibly, both in our store and elsewhere, to reacquire and expand my collection.

My position did put me into the position to gain some spectacular deals. For example, a guy brought in a giant bag full of pristine boxed NES titles. My manager at the time said we didn't have room to keep the boxes and I was to do something with them. So I did. I put them straight into my car and took them home. I ended up buying over half of the games, so I don't feel as bad about that as maybe I should. Especially since I was following orders and nobody got hurt, really. The biggest coup of all was that the gentleman also brought in a ROB with all of its attachments and both gyros (with the paper protective cover still on them). I pulled that aside and told the guy that we didn't take ROB anymore. He had gotten over 200 dollars in trade credit by this point already and told me he didn't feel like dragging it back home. I told him that he could probably sell it on ebay for around 50-75 dollars and he still refused to take it back! So the ROB sits on my shelf to this day as a statue. He does work, though. I stuffed batteries into him once and tried him on Gyromite. God what a POS.

Another time a gentleman brought in his Panasonic 3DO FZ1, boxed and complete, with about 10 or 12 games. We certainly didn't take those. I told the guy I was sorry that the company didn't take those in trade anymore. He might be able to get a decent amount out of a pawn shop if he tried, or I could just buy it from him for the 40 bucks I had in my pocket. I told him that probably wasn't the best deal he could get and that I would try eBay or pawnshops first, but he wanted the 40 to buy some new hit release that was out that day. So he took my money, and in return I must admit I did give him a "shopwear" discount of 10 percent, since those were at my discretion as a member of management.


So, I did end up gaining back what was lost, and some things I never did let go of, like my original copy of Castlevania that I got with the NES that Christmas. But I let it go for the sake of a few easy bucks. It won't happen again unless I have absolutely no other choice. I may not be able to expand the collection during certain periods but I won't liquidate it either.

In the end I suppose selling them off made me realize just exactly what I was missing by doing so, and it did enable me to appreciate the games once I owned them again. Emulators are useful, but they lack the same sentimental nostaliga for me, and that's something I really treasure.

[PROTOTYPE]

Sorry you kind lost me there, XBOX was Awesome at the time... you were very lucky to work there and most people who sell their stuff really regret it and hardly ever get it all back.Now back to the XBOX :onfire:

[JSoup]

More than likely will. I've only ever done one pricing, back when I first used IGN's collection software, which put my collection in the $4K range. I've basically decided that somewhere between the ages of 30 and 35 I'm going to just say "Yeah, enough, time to stop acting like a 20-something year old" and just toss all my gaming stuffs to the wind.

[RPG_Fanatic]

I sold off most of my collection this year, stuff that I know I'll never play which was most of it. I just kept the stuff I know I'll play one day.

[Final Boss]

Only if

a) I absolutely must to feed myself
b) I lose interest
c) something equally interesting comes along that I can trade everything for
d) I get tired of the pigginess of resellers and scammers and the overall mentality of everyone wanting to own old games

All of those seem unlikely options at the moment.

If everything goes as planned, I either get buried with my collection, burn it or I donate it all to a public museum. Seeing as I haven't lost all of my mind/am not terminally ill (at least to the best of my knowledge) and my collection is pathetic compared to the hardcorest/luckiest/most devoted hoarders, I'm likely to rot with Double Dragon 2 clutched in my cold, dead hands.

[NEOryu]

When considering this question, it haunted my thoughts for many nights. I came to the conclusion, that to live life, I had to let go and not only with videogames, but with everything, job/GameStop, car/Dodge Magnum SRT-8, home/2-bedroom apartment by the ocean. Selling it all, then focusing on life, gave me the solace I needed to push forth collected while deciding to risk it all and move to Japan with only $500. From there I earned teaching English. Stabilizing my life in a foreign country gave me the idea to bring money back to the United States to open a videogame business with a Japanese influence. So when presented with this question, I am a firm believer of letting everything go if you have the focus to obtain it in the future.

[Bubble_Man]

Only as a last resort if I fell upon very hard times.

[GamerTheGreek]

I sold off the majority (90% ) of my collection years ago. SNES, NES, A2600,5200,7800 ( some 84 release systems in the box) PS1, 2, xbox strait up to the new stuff. And went out and bought a classic Monte SS to replace my first one that died. The last part I have left, I dont think I have the heart to sell. I guess if its real bad id consider it but I think on some level i need to have one thing special from my childhood that I will not part with. I think my game system would be that I wouldnt sell.