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Thread: Why is a loose Super Mario/Duck Hunt worth close to $10 now?

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    Default Why is a loose Super Mario/Duck Hunt worth close to $10 now?

    ...And a lot of super common NES games?

    Back in the late 2000s, if you paid a buck for a loose SMB/Duck Hunt cart, you overpaid. The idea of such a common cartridge with production numbers in the tens of millions going for even $5 was crazy. Other stuff like SMB 3 was dirt cheap too. Check out this comment from March 1, 2008, it implies that SMB 3 was going for about $2 at the time. (https://forum.digitpress.com/forum/s...46#post1331546). It's quadrupled in value in a little over 10 years. Price Charting says the average NES game was about $6 in 2008-2009. (https://www.pricecharting.com/console/nes). Now, only the cheapest games are around that price. What happened to the $2 or less NES game?
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    I'm not sure how we can hammer down an exact secondhand value for 20+ year old games. Typical ranges, sure, but the exact dollar amount will vary from seller to seller. I spent $3 for a Super Mario Bros. 3 cart in 1999.

    Retro game collecting has gotten more popular, more sellers are aware that retro game collecting exists and want to take advantage of that fact, social media hypes up people on old games, and people who had the NES as kids have gotten old enough to get nostalgic about their childhoods and land decent, stable jobs that allow them to collect. I think that about sums up why NES games are more expensive than they used to be. And most collectors find that finds in the wild have dried up, leaving more people stuck turning to online marketplaces.

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    Quote Originally Posted by WelcomeToTheNextLevel View Post
    Check out this comment from March 1, 2008, it implies that SMB 3 was going for about $2 at the time.
    I don't know about that, I remember regularly selling SMB 3 and other loose NES games for around $15 on eBay back then. A quick check on eBay now shows it selling for around the same or less.
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    its basically been covered already but ultimately its just supply and demand. The economy is booming and there is actual interest in retro gaming now much moreso than 15 years ago. a lot of it I feel has to do with eBay though. because of shipping costs and seller fees, its rare to see a game for less than 3 dollars anywhere. i feel if eBay didnt exist, prices for games would be significantly cheaper albeit hard to find

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    $10 still isn't that bad considering that the games are actually good ones to play, I'm glad it isn't a $20 cart now. I remember game stores asking $15-$20 for Super Mario/Duck Hunt even back then, it was savvy collectors that avoided it at those prices but people who didn't know any better still paid that much back then at game stores.

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    I've been hitting flea markets for games since probably around my DP inception date. Back then, I could leisurely get to a flea at 10am and find cheap/good games. I took a break for awhile from fleas, but hit them pretty heavy this past summer. You have to get there at 5 am or earlier and keep walking in circles in hopes someone puts out some games for good prices. Once they do, there are likely 3-4 other people there for the same thing waiting and you then have to grab the stuff as quickly as you can, because I have had someone come up behind me and start making offers on stuff I was holding. IF you can find anything older than PS2, you have to be at the exact right spot at the right time and make your deal as quickly as possible. Then you have to hope that the regular buyers don't have some kind of deal worked out with the regular sellers where they get first dibs on their games in the morning or something. That being said, the effort put in to find that SMB/DH cart for $2 now is much much harder than it used to be. Also mentioned previously, there are much much less people clearing their games out of the basement.

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    I have taken noticed of the price range being much higher these past couple of years with retro gaming being more mainstream. The hunt for rare treasures are becoming more scarce, and thankfully, I did all my collecting years ago. I still keep an eye out for good deals, just not as active like I used to


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    Same. One thing I can be thankful for is that collecting was good right at the time that was best for me. I may not have had much money in the 00s, but I was an adult and had enough to pick up a lot when games were so cheap. And I had the time to play a lot of what I was bringing in. Now I've got a huge collection (by my standards, at least), more than I can make time to play, so I have no desire to expand it rapidly anymore. The lack of good finds in the wild and the higher prices online all the more cement that I'm done with serious active hunting. Now I'm satisfied with just picking up a few retro games once in a blue moon or as presents.

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    actually prices for loose NES, SNES, N64 carts have plateaued or stayed the same in the last couple of years. Ive seen a rise in prices for CIB games somewhat but if all you care about is playing on a legit cart, prices peaked in 2016 and have definitely come down since

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    Even if they've come down since 2016, they're still a lot higher than they were in the 00s.

    Another thing that makes me glad to be mostly out of the hunting and collecting game is that there's repros and fakes everywhere. It used to be only a handful of systems where you had to be careful, like how GBA and Famicom have always had a lot of bootlegs. But now it's everything. I just don't have the patience for wading through eBay, attempting to find a legit cart.

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    agreed 100%. eBay is complicit in the repro bullsh*t. How many sellers have actually gotten in trouble for peddling counterfeit? ive never heard of any. and with eBay making ten cents on the dollar for every repro sale, what incentive do they have to stop it? I smell a class action lawsuit. all it takes is one litigation lawyer/retro game collector who hasnt set foot in a court room for a while for eBay to be brought to its knees over this shit

    im glad I have like 75% of what I want as far as NES, SNES, N64 and the rest I can get eventually. i started collecting before there were any "repros" on the market at all

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    also, controversial opinion but... how much have Youtube videos affected game prices in general? I feel that for many people, its enough to just watch someone play these games on Twitch or Youtube. i am not part of that but were at an interesting point now where its legal to stream the games but not copy them... but its enough for some just to watch as opposed to buy the whole game

    I feel that way to an extent with some of those $100 games. in the past I mayve pulled the trigger on a game like Wild Guns just to check it out but after seeing gameplay footage I wasnt thrilled about it or I figured I got my fill just by watching it. either way I couldnt justify the price tag at that point

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    Just play flashcarts

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