Is ebay in part to blame for higher retro game values?

[furcointalk]

My thoughts are that all of the people that played these games as kids are starting to have substantially more income. Therefore they spend it on things from their childhood.

I buy/sell sports cards and the 90s inserts are also very popular and in demand, which equates to higher prices.

I've heard that as well. but, i wonder. when those kids get old and eventually die off, will the value of their collectibles go with them to the grave? In other words, kids born today, may never ever play a nes or snes game. will kids born today still want to pay hundreds for earthbound in 2040?

[byuu]

Very unlikely. I've heard that the Atari 2600 market crashed pretty hard. NES is about at its peak. SNES has probably 10 more years before reaching its peak.

Active franchises though will probably continue to be valuable: Mario, Zelda, etc; in the same way people want Amazing Spiderman #1 and such.

But games like Hagane and Wild Guns? Their prices will eventually crash. They weren't very good games to begin with.

[SparTonberry]

Cool. When the price on Wild Guns crashes, I'll pick up a copy.
(though some might disagree about its crappiness. You know the Wild Guns ripoff SD The Great Battle V has also become just as expensive?)
I got a SFC Hagane cart for only like $10 pre-shipping earlier this year (though I'd suspect the price on that has also become ridiculously inflated recently as well).

[craig182]

It depends. If you buy a console and a bunch of games you can not expect free shipping. I believe the shipping should be near enough the exact price to have it shipped and the seller should not make anything.

Also, I believe if people are bidding then eBay isn't the reason. It is us the people that are trying to out bid which raises the prices.

[kupomogli]

I don't know, many of us had pretty good collections long before Ebay. There were always thrifts, garage sales, swap meets, other local collectors, mail order, etc...I won't dispute that Ebay has made more and in some cases rarer stuff available, but without it, many of us would still have great collections.

But still like thrift stores, garage sales, etc, are definitely not as good as going to Ebay. With video games, I'm pretty OCD about owning certain games that are in less than perfect condition, and mainly this only pertains to disc titles. Pawn shops used to be pretty big on requiring the game to be in very good condition, but at a flea market, finding a game you've been looking for and the disc in perfect condition means the stars must have been perfectly aligned just for you that night.

So if it's disc based and no longer in print, there's really no other way to get the game in my collection other than either trade with other collectors or buy it off Ebay. With games like Brigandine Grand Edition, both rare and an import, without Ebay or other collector's, it's pretty much impossible.

The last game I actually kept from a flea market was a cartridge game. If I find anything worth purchasing at a flea market, the majority of the time I usually purchase it just to sell it.

[zakthedodo]

The buyers drive the price.

Ebay fees once a sale goes over 25 dollars isn't that much of an issue.
What kills me on Ebay is shipping to other countries. I used to flat fee but after getting burned on shipping a couple of times I ask international buyers to contact me.


Eventually an obviously over priced item will sell but collectors and even casual hobbyist know if they're getting gouged or not.

I've found games going for over 80 dollars for half as much just by trying different search terms.
Lots of sellers have no idea what they have.

Sentimental value will have people overpay probably more than anything else.

[sloan]

There is really no "in part" to this discussion. BIN auctions have driven everything upward in retro gaming prices.

[bugrouleau]

Old games are only expensive cause there little to non of lit left. Like Diamonds and other items, the more rare it is the higher it's price value.

[j_factor]

Old games are only expensive cause there little to non of lit left. Like Diamonds and other items, the more rare it is the higher it's price value.

I know this is way off topic, but diamonds aren't that rare at all. They're pricey because De Beers has monopolized the diamond mines.

[theclaw]

Both ways to varying degrees. Ebay helps grant quick access to uncommon games, which is more exposure for potential buyers. Yet they also take little stand against price gouging.

[Atarileaf]

There is really no "in part" to this discussion. BIN auctions have driven everything upward in retro gaming prices.

Our local game stores price their retro games almost completely on the highest BIN they can find. They won't even listen to a logical argument about actual completed auction prices.

[furcointalk]

Atari carts on average are cheaper than NES carts, yet they are older.

As an Ebay seller and buyer, i can tell you from first hand experience, i have to charge more for crap because the fees eat you alive.

BIN has become popular because its cheaper to sell with BIN than with an auction. Ebay has made it impossible to start the bidding at one penny for a common cart because of the fees. Also shipping on one cart has become very expensive. Media mail shipping on one cart will cost about 3 bucks or more. Ebay thinks including free shipping on all items is the way to go- so that is what i do. I start the bidding on mario duck / hunt for 7 bucks (free shipping), because it isn't worth selling for any less. If the cart sells for 7 ebay / paypal takes over 16% in fees. then i have to pay for shipping. when its all said and done, i am lucky to make two dollars- was it all worth it? hell no!

so if i am a seller, i will charge ten bucks for that cart. but, if i were to sell it a garage sale, i would look at the recent sales on ebay and see that the very same cart sells for 7 or more. most people who don't sell on ebay have zero concept of the fees, so they think that cart is now worth 7 or more and that it must be rare....

but if SMB duck hunt is worth 7- metroid must be worth 20 right???

before ebay fees became 16% and shipping tripled, i was able to sell carts for 7 or less and make a few bucks profit- those days are gone. it doesn't make sense to sell anything for less than 15 bucks on ebay.
don't forget that buyers have all the power on ebay, returns for no reason, buyers steal, and ask for refunds at alarming rates, professional sellers need to bake those prices in as well.

i am not a professional seller, i just sell extra items, or i sell to clean out the closet, but ebay has made it impossible to sell items at resonable prices.

[JSoup]

A few members here and in other retrogaming communities seem to stick to the opinion that prices are high due to the brute force collecting methods introduced by NintendoAge, but I honestly don't know how much truth there is to that.

[furcointalk]

A few members here and in other retrogaming communities seem to stick to the opinion that prices are high due to the brute force collecting methods introduced by NintendoAge, but I honestly don't know how much truth there is to that.

i've never heard of the "brute force" collecting method. what is it exactly?

[JSoup]

i've never heard of the "brute force" collecting method. what is it exactly?

As I understand it, instead of hunting down deals on games, you just up and buy most/half/all of your collection from a different collector for a price that far exceeds what the total should be. This in turn drives up the price for each individual item for the next guy. Rinse, repeat.

[jperryss]

What about a game that doesn't show up on eBay too often, but rarely sells for over $40 when it does. You'll see a couple sellers list that title with a BIN of like $200, which will sit for months.

Then, someone lists a BIN for $120 and a buyer snaps it up because it looks like a good deal "compared to the $200 everyone else is asking".

According to eBay the going price of that game has just tripled.

[PapaStu]

i've never heard of the "brute force" collecting method. what is it exactly?

You collect by force. Buying items without shopping or dealing. Basically you're tossing money at a collection just to 'get' the stuff.

Many collectors tend to brute the last few items missing from their sets because they want the hunt over, but when you start throwing all the monies around and you're in some cases hundreds of games off, you're just collecting by force at that point.

[Robocop2]

Our local game stores price their retro games almost completely on the highest BIN they can find. They won't even listen to a logical argument about actual completed auction prices.

I just had that happen yesterday. Found a smaller mom and pop that I thought I'd try out. Guy at the main location tells me they have a Jaguar with a cd attachment at his other store he'd sell for 200 as a set. I'm thinking I already have a jaguar and the CD attachment would be nice to have just since a lot of the homebrew is cd only and that I could sell the jag and make some of that back. I get over there and the jackass at the counter plays on the computer and says "300 for the set" because prices change all the time and he doesn't always keep track of that stuff...... I was reall too pissed off to fight it yesterday but I'm thinking about calling the owner tomorrow since he's the o e who told me they would sel it for that. Of course it's probably broken since so many of those are. It still the principle of the matter is what pisses me off.

[DeseoParadise]

The problem isn't Ebay, the problem is that there is a lot of people who collect games and every day there is less games.

[JSoup]

The problem isn't Ebay, the problem is that there is a lot of people who collect games and every day there is less games.

That's not implicitly a problem, though. Generally speaking, most hardcore collectors all have a price or are otherwise willing to sell/trade. The surplus may have a semi-solid number of every little thing, but there will always been a percentage of that surplus either in circulation or ready for circulation. Which is why we have the concept of brute force collecting, it keeps things eternally in some form of circulation, but jacks the prices up quickly.