Do people keep records of BUY/SELL/TRADE gaming transactions?

[CD-1]

I wasn't quite sure where to put this thread as it encompasses the sale and trade of all types of games.

Because rare games change owners so often, I was wondering if, as a general rule, you keep records of which games have gone to whom so it is possible to track them later? Say, if you wanted a game back, or another potential buyer was interested in where the copy ended up. I know some people make lists of current owners, but if records are not kept I'd imagine it's easy for these lists to get out of date, especially since multiple people have made and maintain them. So...

Do you keep records of BUY/SELL/TRADE gaming transactions (who it went to, at least)?

[Superman]

Like most everything else in my collection, I keep the information in my head.

The actual contact information is written down, but that is all. When I look at a game I usually know where it came from (or went).

[cyberfluxor]

I know most NWC carts are tracked along with some other rares and "one of a kinds." Serial or production numbers are recorded and whenever they change hands the list is updated and prices are usually kept on hand too so they know the current collectors value.

As for me keeping records, well most of what I get is at shops and I almost always post the find and its price so if down the road I need to a simple search is required. For the past few months I've been slowly filling out spreadsheets with my collection and taking the prices I posted and placing them next to the game info so I have tracking saved on my computer. Some of my higher priced and demanded items are hard to forget what I paid for them, i.e. Lunar 1 & 2 sealed for PSX or Arc the Lad Collection complete & mint due to the monies involved. None of them cost me more than $50 but it's the accomplishment of finally getting them that stands out.

[Steven]

I only keep track in the sense of writing down the date I purchased Game X, obviously its title and where I bought it from and for how much. It's great to have that gaming log, especially after a year or so of keeping track.

[cyberfluxor]

I only keep track in the sense of writing down the date I purchased Game X, obviously its title and where I bought it from and for how much. It's great to have that gaming log, especially after a year or so of keeping track.

Damn you! Now I need to add something else to record...

Actually thinking about it now, recording dates is a huge plus because it shows where your dry spouts of collecting are and you can plot graphs on your game library growth over each system... Damn you again!!! I'm never going to finish these spreadsheets.

[Mark III]

Damn you! Now I need to add something else to record...

Actually thinking about it now, recording dates is a huge plus because it shows where your dry spouts of collecting are and you can plot graphs on your game library growth over each system... Damn you again!!! I'm never going to finish these spreadsheets.

Wow, that's pretty hardcore. I thought I was a fairly serious collector, but the idea of plotting graphs and charts based on my collecting habits is quite possibly the most depressing thing I can think of right now.

[Mayhem]

Somewhat scarily, I still have records of almost everything I've ever won from eBay... and I joined in the start of 1999...

[CD-1]

Wow, that's pretty hardcore. I thought I was a fairly serious collector, but the idea of plotting graphs and charts based on my collecting habits is quite possibly the most depressing thing I can think of right now.

Haha, I'd imagine a lot of office applications do that for you, if you're not into math.

I'm glad to see you guys have some idea of where games end up. I wonder if there's a master list of who owns what here at the forums? I actually haven't checked yet, but it would be useful to have. Especially when trying to track down a particularly unique copy of something...

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

I keep track of all the deals that I do, sales, trades, and purchases. I keep track of a lot of the details:

1. Name and address of the person I am dealing with.
2. Exactly what the deal is.
3. Delivery confirmation numbers and money order numbers.
4. Dates of all e-mails, etc about the deal.

This helps me to keep track of how much I have spent and made in my dealing.

JY

[carlcarlson]

personally I keep lists of everything I buy and sell. I also have a notebook full of the addresses of the people I've sold to, as well as the dates things were shipped. I do this because my selling is what pays for my buying. I don't have much money, and this is the only way I can justify spending money on video games. So far I've done pretty well for myself. I have around 2000 games including some semi-valuables like Valkyrie Profile and Cheetahmen II, and I've actually MADE money. I've been keeping track for about three years now and I've spent about $13k and made over $15k. Doing it this way makes collecting much more enjoyable for me because I don't feel bad about spending the money.

[Damaramu]

Too much work for me. If I bought from the DP boards, I just refer to the feedback left by sellers.

To date, only one chode failed to leave ANY kind of feedback at all after a deal....even after I left him feedback and politely mentioned it in a PM. Asshole. (And no, it's not you IM)

[Steven]

Damn you! Now I need to add something else to record...

Actually thinking about it now, recording dates is a huge plus because it shows where your dry spouts of collecting are and you can plot graphs on your game library growth over each system... Damn you again!!! I'm never going to finish these spreadsheets.

Yeah, the key is to keep pace. If you fall behind, it not only becomes a daunting task, but also near-impossible. I really regret not keeping track of my Saturn purchases from 99-05. I bought over 300 games and would love to go back and chart that. So I was lucky, when I began my SNES resurrection January 2006 that I knew I had a chance to rectify my errors.



I don't use spreadsheet though, I'm a pen and paper guy myself. Every time I buy a game I write the essentials down, and if there's any sort of interesting side story I'll throw it in there too. It's actually a gaming log-slash-journal even. I've looked back a bit and a lot of cool mini-stories and side-tales I've long forgotten about, but thanks to me keeping track WHEN it happened, it's on record for life.

I have another record I keep on track too. This particular list SPECIFICALLY just lists all the SNES titles I've bought, in the order I did. I went like 60 days once where I bought at least one game!



If it's eBay I list the price I won and even the MAX price I was willing to pay. One day I plan to add it up and see how much I saved. It was a friend of mine who goes by the moniker "GAR3" who inspired me to keep a log. He organized all his Saturn purchases, dating way back to 1996 when the Saturn was active. I thought, "MAN! That's so cool, I wish I did that." He told me, "No, trust me you don't want to know how much you wasted." But I did want to know, and not just that, but the dates, stories, etc. behind buying the games. I'm into that archiving business.

Anyway, I actually have an article of sorts devoted to this logging madness, it can be read here: LOG IT!