Are you more likely to SELL a valuable game in your collection that you like...

[Emperor Megas]

...or to PURCHASE an expensive game that's demands a hefty price for your collection that you want?

I was thinking about this after I saw what a complete copy of M.U.S.H.A. for Genesis goes for in another thread. I like the game, and I appreciate it's value as a collection piece, but I don't think that I like it enough to pass on the few hundred bucks that I can get for it if I sold it. Now, whether I sell it or not has more to do with my financial standing at the moment. That's to say, since I do like it, and it's not easy to acquire, I probably wouldn't sell it if I didn't really need to, but the more I think about it, the less logical that is when I know that I can get 20+ games I want for the value of 1 M.U.S.H.A..

...but that's a little off from where I'm going with this.

What I'm asking is, IN GENERAL, are you more likely to consider selling games (you like) from your collection that you know fetch big money, or are you more likely to purchase those types of high dollar games that are hard to come by?

I definitely fall in the 'SELL OFF for high' category. I own a few of those pricey games like M.U.S.HA., Panzer Dragoon Saga, Radiant Silvergun, Keio Flying Squadron, Snatcher, etc., but the most I've ever paid for any of them was, I believe, 80 bucks, for Keio' (well, $40 technically, since the wife went in half with me). If I can't find something rare that I want for cheap, it just won't ever end up in my collection. I like my rare acquisitions to be flukes. I can't see myself paying astronomical prices for games when all I really want to do is play them (preferably on original hardware).

What about you guys?

[megasdkirby]

Depends. I would purchase an expensive game than selling one. Of course, I will NOT purchase an expensive game at it's expensive price...I would just hold off until I find it in the wild at a decent price.

I learned this the hard way. I just can't justify spending an assload of money on something that will just sit on a shelf and rot. Just look at the Sonic game that went for an asinine ~$1,000. Yay for the buyer...he got bragging rights! After that...not much really. And eventually, the buyer will just sell the game after a certain amount of time. So why spend so much on a game is beyond me. But whatever makes a person happy, I say.

Would I sell a rare game from my collection? Yes. Although right now I have no need to sell anything, if the time comes that something that is important pops up, I will definitely get rid of the game. I mean, it's only a video game. It's not something that is necessary to live, so why not sell something you don't need to pay off something that you do need?

[treismac]

PURCHASE.

Unless a game that I enjoy fetched a truckload of money, I can't see parting ways with it. Seeing as 90% of my fun money probably goes to collecting retro video games, selling a game that I enjoy to buy other games doesn't make much sense.

[StealthLurker]

At the most generalized level I'd say I'm on the BUY camp.

Although you only asked for the IN GENERAL case, I think it's the special circumstances that are more interesting and telling of what defines you. Also since you were debating about MUSHA, I think merely clinging to very highly general "rules of thumb" isn't the right way to go (imho of course). Sure it can make life simpler, but nuances are important.... at least more important to me.

if it's only a couple hundred bucks or a few thousand, no I'll keep it. If it's in the tens of thousands or more then yes I'll think about it. It's relative that way I suppose. What's a few grand going to do for me? Not much unless I lose my job, rainy day savings, general savings, retirement, other physical assets, various properties, etc.

Another thing is what makes the game so valuable? If it's just a "slight" variation in the packaging (subjective call) such as the Sonic UPC thing, then I'm more inclined to sell also. However if it's truly a "unique game" (one example: only available in this region in this format), then I'm more inclined to keep it.

Bottom line I don't think there are hard and fast, black and white borders to this issue.... or more importantly, there shouldn't be. Although I stated in the beginning that I'm on the BUY camp, I think that's just a result of the experiences/opportunities I've encountered so far. In theory, everyone has a fuzzy boundary on the topic when you look at it more closely with a microscope or they're not being entirely honest with themselves imho. At the "high level" you may be a BUY ONLY guy vs. SELL but given certain situations and parameters that can change. In addition there's a plethora of other issues I'm leaving out here such as collector vs. gamer... for example I'm a collector for retro but I view myself as more of a gamer for modern stuff. Therefore I'd be more apt to chuck a "valuable" "modern" object than a "retro" one. That all lies with the level of attachment to certain things according to whatever classification/grouping. The list of "special conditions" could go on and on...


.

[jonebone]

Games that I like will never be sold from my collection unless I retire from collecting completely.

Of course I'm not in a rush to go out and purchase items I like at high price tags either. I'll be patient and hunt for a good deal no matter how important the game is.

But if I had to pick one, I'd be a buyer. All of us have games on our list that are must owns, no matter what the price. If money was that tight, I'd sell out less important games from the collection to acquire my favorites.

[Aussie2B]

if it's only a couple hundred bucks or a few thousand, no I'll keep it.

Heh, only on Digital Press could the value of a game be referred to as "only" a few thousand, haha.

Anyway, I'd say buy, but I always try to get a good deal on everything. If something is very expensive, I'll never pay the going rate. The more expensive the game is, the better the deal better be for it to end up in my collection, otherwise I'll just do without. Generally speaking, I hate to spend more than $100 on a game.

[crazyjackcsa]

It comes down to sentimental attachment for me. Panzer Dragoon Saga carries a lot of memories for me, so I would be more likely to buy it then sell it. Vice versa for a game that doesn't have. For instance, I'd be more likely to buy Burning Rangers, because I had it once, but now it's gone. I'd be more likely to sell Dragon Force, as I don't have any attachment.

[TurboGenesis]

I am more likely to buy... if a game is expensive, I will seek out an expensive game if I desire, however, I will aim to purchase at a price within reason… my prime example:

Summer Carnival '92: Recca

I played this game in emulation years ago, and decided I wanted to own this game… then I learned of the value it carried, and then spent several months looking for the game, passing some up as I wasn't comfortable pulling the trigger… then I found a boxed game and made the plunge… $200! (most I have ever spent on a single game to date!) that price was slightly current prices of the time (loose carts were selling around $200 about 5-6 years ago) so I was ok with my purchase and the price I paid (not sure on current value of Recca…)

an example of a valuable game I love and won't part with…

Magical Chase

I have owned this game for many years and this game has skyrocketed in value over time… I have loved this game from the time I first played and enjoy playing through it today! I have had numerous offers to sell (usually low ball offers) but unless someone were to make an offer I cannot refuse, I will not sell… there is an old saying that goes: "everything is for sale... for the right price" - my price to sell Magical Chase is $10,000. it's ok to laugh and call my price ridiculous, because it is, but if someone really were to pay me that much, then I will honor the sale price...

[kupomogli]

The most expensive games I own and like are in like new condition and would be around $50-150 and all those are for the PSX. Tactics Ogre, Arc the Lad 2, and Brigandine are my three favorite games. Coincidentally, these three games, four when you count Brigandine Grand Edition, all sell for $50-$100 for their condition. Nothing very expensive. Suikoden 2 is probably the most expensive game that I like.

However. Even if I was in dire need, I don't think I'd sell a lot of what's in my PSX collection. To this day nearly any game in my PSX collection I can pick up and play and thoroughly enjoy. In my opinion gaming was at its peak during that time and my best memories are with these games.

When it comes to expensive games. I have no problem purchasing a mint condition game from someone on Ebay rather than finding it in the wild myself. Because 99% of all games I find in the wild don't meet my expectations in terms of condition. However, and it's unortunate, the only game I'm interested in that has dropped off the list of games I'm interested in picking up is Earthbound. At a ridiculous $300+ for a complete copy, I'd rather not own it because it's really not that good. I should have got it when it was at the, and still very overpriced, $150 complete price range.

I own Metroid Prime Trilogy Steelbook version and that's climbed quite a bit in price. I'll keep it for a year or two and see what overpriced costs I can get for it. Just hope Nintendo doesn't release a 1080p Wii U version.

[goatdan]

Interesting question...

I would say that I'm a pretty cheap person, but I'm also very patient with my deals *usually*. The short version of the story...

If I have a collection that is 99% complete, I give up waiting forever to complete my collection. For instance, in about 2005 or so I decided I wanted to collect all of the Playstation long boxes. I only looked for them cheap at local stores until last year, when I gave up on the last 10 games and overpaid for a few of them online to get them and finish my collection. Nothing horribly expensive (oddly, I was missing almost exclusively common games), but I paid five times what I could have got most of them for if I waited.

On the flip side, if I get a game that is really rare cheaply, I tend to look at it not as what the sale price is, but instead I look at it in regards to what the purchase cost was. For instance, I got a copy of Star Fox Competition Cartridge that I paid a whopping $7.50 for a few years ago. I would have NEVER paid even $100 for this game, but I definitely get $7.50 worth of fun out of it. Similarly, I would never have paid the going $400-$600 rate for my copies of BattleSphere on the Jaguar, but I value them at the original $80 or so I paid apiece, so I'm not in a rush to sell them.

I constantly have a huge backlog of games to play, so even when I really want a certain game I find a way to put it off until I find it for a great price. I really, really want Donkey Kong Country Returns, as I LOVED the first two games and sort of the third, and from what I have played on the Wii that game is excellent. I refuse to pay more than $20 for it, and so although it has literally been my number one game on my list for the past year, I still don't own it. It isn't like it is going anywhere, and I have another 200 games I'd like to play that I can play before it anyway.

So, I guess... neither!

[Guy Kazama]

with me the problem is that the expensive games aren't usually good enough for me to justify keeping them.
take harvest moon on snes for example, roughly a $60 game.
I've got a copy, played it maybe 4 times for a total of 5 hours.
at the same time though, look at REZ on ps2 (a $60 game in days past)
i have easily spent 100 hours on that game alone.

so it more depends on the game to me.
would i sell my harvest moon? if i got a decent price and i needed money, it'd be one of the first to go.
would I sell my guardian heroes? no. not unless it proved to be absolutely necessary that I do so.

[VACRMH]

I'd probably sell. I'm not one to purchase expensive games, it's the hunt for the deal that I have a blast with.

But I'd only sell it if I'm not going to play it anymore. Like when I saw how much Tail Concerto was going for, and I had already beaten it and wouldn't play it again, I took advantage of the situation.

It's just not fun paying top dollar for a game. I'd rather trade or find it cheap

[Rickstilwell1]

I'm in the sell category right now. But I'm only really willing to sell rare stuff if I either get back as much as I paid for it or higher.

Really, if I am willing to pay x amount for a game when I wanted it bad, there must be someone else out there who wants the game just as badly enough when there's no lower cost ones on the buy it now market.

[Informationator]

I would rather purchase a game to fill out my collection because I have already spent a great deal of my most valuable resource, time, acquiring the mass of SNES games I currently own. To move backward by selling a hard-to-find game or peripheral makes absolutely no sense to me unless I am in dire straights financially, and (save for everything but the money that goes toward my collection) I am a very frugal investor, so hopefully that won't happen any time soon.