Used games - /vr/ (#11862625) [Archived: 360 hours ago]

Anonymous
7/12/2025, 4:43:04 AM No.11862625
I dont get it
I dont get it
md5: ef5f968c609c8e7661d7f161bd3d866a๐Ÿ”
How do you know if the price is right
Replies: >>11862641 >>11862674 >>11862679 >>11862707 >>11862727 >>11862795 >>11862842 >>11862954 >>11863290 >>11863632 >>11863654 >>11863929 >>11863956
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 4:50:12 AM No.11862641
>>11862625 (OP)
>buying games
What are you wealthy and retired? Otherwise that's fucking retarded
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 4:56:47 AM No.11862656
if you have to ask then you're in the wrong hobby, collecting is for wealthy individuals who simply pay the buy now price
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 5:06:42 AM No.11862674
>>11862625 (OP)
Pricecharting.
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 5:08:00 AM No.11862679
>>11862625 (OP)
You watch the little mountain climber move up the cliff and hope he doesn't fall over.
Replies: >>11863606
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 5:20:47 AM No.11862707
>>11862625 (OP)
Just get a flashcart if you're that beholden to playing on original hardware
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 5:32:41 AM No.11862727
>>11862625 (OP)
>Probotector
I don't buy PAL trash.
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 6:12:24 AM No.11862780
1734723096654181
1734723096654181
md5: 7e4c5eb9a7167080e434a0429d71d604๐Ÿ”
>at ebay prices, my childhood game collection is worth $1.2 million USD
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 6:19:20 AM No.11862795
s-l1200
s-l1200
md5: 0777258bb2527a809395f4208ebedd82๐Ÿ”
>>11862625 (OP)
You stick around in the community long enough, you get to know the prices. For me, it's coins. I've been doing it nearly my whole life, I always know a good price when I see one, and with rare exceptions I wait for instances with good prices rather than impulse buying.
General tips I've gotten from coins
>find a reliable store in your area that has good prices and honest merchandise (if possible, you could be in the panhandle of Oklahoma or something similarly rural for all I know)
>use ebay with caution, make sure the seller accepts return, check feedback, and to get a sense of prices, routinely check sold listing prices
>know how to negotiate and try your best to get up to 25% off if you really play your cards right
>don't even give the "I KNOW WHAT I HAVE" boomers the time of day, keep walking
Replies: >>11862803
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 6:24:57 AM No.11862803
>>11862795
For games you're not selling to the "community", you're selling to the boomer who really needs to buy Probotector right this second at any price so he can relive his childhood before he dies.
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 6:46:41 AM No.11862836
I had a neighbor who died who had a huge collection of old video games, tabletop stuff, and other nerd shit. I hope he got a lot of enjoyment out of it in life, cause after his death it just got dispersed via an estate sale. Ever since watching that I felt much less inclined to collect for the sake of collecting.
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 6:48:49 AM No.11862842
>>11862625 (OP)
There are a ton of guys on here who will say shit like, "You paid $130 for an N64 and a game? You could've gotten that for 20 bucks!", but they're either lying, posturing based on their own good luck, or they're out of touch with the current market.

In reality, collecting games these days comes down to three things:
>1) What are you looking for?
>2) What condition are you willing to accept?
>3) How much are you willing to pay?

Don't listen to anybody who says pricecharting is an accurate indicator of market value, because that site is completely fucked. The best way to gauge the value of a game is to go on eBay and sort by price > lowest to highest, and work your way down the list. A game that's in great condition, CIB, etc., is going to go for a lot more than some a cartridge. If all you want is to play the game, then you can get better deals. If you want some shit that looks good on a bookshelf though, then you'll be paying twice as much or more.

Many will tell you that you can get these insanely deals on fb marketplace, craigslist, yardsales, etc. That is potentially true; there's always that chance you come across the grandson's NES and box of games for $15. That isn't realistic though. People started figuring out about 5-10 years ago that this stuff was valuable, and so 99% of them sell the goods online. If you are hawkish and patient, you can get a holy grail on the cheap, but it requires a lot of footwork with no guarantee.

The best thing you can do is say to yourself, "alright, I want X game, I know it goes for $80 in good condition on eBay", and accept it. Add listings to your watchlist, wait for a seller to offer a discount, and then make a offer that's a grade lower, and hope to meet in the middle. You aren't going to get an $80 game for 5 bucks, but you can shave off 15, 20 or 30 if you're smart, and thereby reduce the overall cost of obtaining your perfect collection by 20-40%. This is the most consistent way to do it, in my mind.
Replies: >>11862868
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 7:03:48 AM No.11862868
>>11862842
>Don't listen to anybody who says pricecharting is an accurate indicator of market value, because that site is completely fucked.
Explain.
Replies: >>11862890
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 7:25:40 AM No.11862890
>>11862868
Pricecharting tells you the average value of a game based on what people are listing it for and what it's been sold for. This is fine in theory, but the problem is that the data isn't curated by human hands, and so the values can be heavily skewed by inaccurate listing data, among other things.

For example, let's say a game is worth $200 brand new and sealed, but some guy makes a listing for a CIB copy that has clearly been opened, but is in otherwise perfect condition, and so he lists it as "New" or "New (Other)" for $150. Because Pricecharting's system now thinks, "here's a copy of this game listed as new, and it's going for 150... I will now add 150 to my database of copies going for 200, reducing the average price of games listed as new". It isn't intelligent, and it can't visually verify that this copy is in fact not sealed, so it lumps it into its algorithm anyway. This goes both way; not only over-inflating the cost of games in bad condition, but potentially undervaluing the cost of games in good condition.

There's a million other layers to it that you have to take into account, like a youtuber making some hidden gemz video about a particular game, having it skyrocket over night as people try to cash in, only for it to crash again a week later. There's a lot of nuance to to the whole thing, but the end result is that pricecharting isn't accurate because it bases its values on pure digital data rather than visually-verified results. This is why looking through eBay yourself and examining the condition and availability of games is going to give you a better indicator of their real value.
Replies: >>11862953
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 8:05:14 AM No.11862953
>>11862890
>the problem is that the data isn't curated by human hands, and so the values can be heavily skewed by inaccurate listing data, among other things.
I'm going to need to see some examples of Pricecharting's average radically differing from what a game of average condition is selling for. I'm open to the idea that this may be an issue with sealed and PAL games, and I can personally attest that it does a horrible job tracking Japanese games (which is why I personally don't use it anymore - I only collect JP now). But for the decade plus I collected US games, both CIB and loose, I can't recall ever encountering a single notable discrepancy between their price and the actual price. For the average collector, it's perfectly serviceable.

>Pricecharting tells you the average value of a game based on what people are listing it for and what it's been sold for.
This is wrong. Pricecharting only takes into account sold listings.

>There's a million other layers to it that you have to take into account, like a youtuber making some hidden gemz video about a particular game, having it skyrocket over night as people try to cash in, only for it to crash again a week later.
These game's seldom fully recover from their spikes. Alien Resurrection still sells for almost twice it's pre-spike price a year later. This is both real and useful data, regardless of dubious market motivations.

>This is why looking through eBay yourself and examining the condition and availability of games is going to give you a better indicator of their real value.
This is untrue, particularly for games with a low sales volume. Often, Pricecharting will have significantly more data than eBay does, as eBay only retains sold listings for a few months. Pricecharting maintains the 30 most recent sold listings regardless of age. This is a godsend for games that only sell a copy or two a month.
Replies: >>11862959
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 8:06:55 AM No.11862954
>>11862625 (OP)
every game costs 0
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 8:08:34 AM No.11862959
>>11862953
>This is untrue, particularly for games with a low sales volume.
More accurately: this isn't untrue, but it isn't necessarily true, either. Of course, sifting through sold listings by hand is a better option if you have the time, and the data is actually available. Forgive my poor original wording.
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 11:27:33 AM No.11863213
Don't buy used games.

Want to support the actual developers? Buy rereleases. Even then it really goes to the company, but hey, some companies are ok. Never buy Nintendo, they deserve full piracy.

Want to support scalpers and investors? Buy used and cope.

Physical old games are purely business. Unless you're aiming to sell to the boomers other anons here mentioned, you don't belong. Don't get baited.
Replies: >>11863294
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 12:51:00 PM No.11863290
1496762365125
1496762365125
md5: c3d8e5e7d4c4091b198c77e1fca3ff00๐Ÿ”
>>11862625 (OP)
There's literally no reason not to forge retro games at these prices.
Replies: >>11863368
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 12:52:30 PM No.11863294
>>11863213
>Want to support the actual developers? Buy rereleases. Even then it really goes to the company, but hey, some companies are ok.
This is the most disgusting cucked mentality I've ever seen.
Replies: >>11863382
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 2:02:26 PM No.11863368
>>11863290
Um, how about the moral and legal reasons? Have you ever thought about all the time and effort that devs put into making those games and figured that maybe itโ€™s not right to steal works of art? You and your ilk are the bane of this board.
Replies: >>11863380
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 2:11:37 PM No.11863380
>>11863368
Too late, I'm telling all my methhead friends to start scamming you bozos.

Also the implication that devs will see a cent from an eBay transaction is LOL
Replies: >>11863386
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 2:14:53 PM No.11863382
>>11863294
what's the cuck? compare capcom to ubisoft for instance.

or is not paying scalpers somehow impure to you
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 2:17:30 PM No.11863386
>>11863380
> Also the implication that devs will see a cent from an eBay transaction
I never said that, but if you want to experience art, you should be willing to suffer and pay for it.
Replies: >>11863412
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 2:37:44 PM No.11863412
>>11863386
bait used to be believable
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 4:47:42 PM No.11863606
>>11862679
kek
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 5:00:58 PM No.11863632
>>11862625 (OP)
If it's the PAL version it's not worth buying in the first place.
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 5:09:46 PM No.11863654
>>11862625 (OP)
>How do you know if the price is right
If it is $20 or less and a game you will play through to completion, then the price is right. If your goal us to simply play and enjoy the game there are almost always better options than buying an original cart.

Anything more than this is collector faggotry, people who collect rarely play the games in their collection. Large collections exist for instagram whores and aspiring youtubers who need the games as a background photo to give them "legitimacy".
Replies: >>11863706
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 5:37:27 PM No.11863706
>>11863654
>Large collections exist for instagram whores and aspiring youtubers who need the games as a background photo to give them "legitimacy".
I collect games because owning things that I care about feels nice to me. Are normies actually incapable of valuing their physical possessions for anything other than their utility (functional, financial, social, or otherwise)?
Replies: >>11863735 >>11863998
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 5:57:15 PM No.11863735
>>11863706
The landscape of buying used games simply has too many hoops to jump through without getting revolted.

Pretend you're a young-ish person for this, and compare:

>Buying some random item with media you like.
Other than generic 'muh capitalism', which anyone who isn't struggling can jump through, there is nothing wrong. Maybe the item is cringe idk.

>Buying a used game.
โ€ข The 'muh capitalism' remains as the first hoop. You also need a console btw.
โ€ข The price is likely inflated, meaning you get less for more.
โ€ข If you're a normie, you likely consider this old game worse than modern ones (which cost less).
โ€ข You aren't actually paying the makers of the game, adding a free layer of doubt.
โ€ข Extra entry for situational stuff (quality issues, compatibility, scams, bootlegs, etc)

If it was as simple as buying what you like, this thread would not exist.
Replies: >>11863798
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 6:40:48 PM No.11863798
>>11863735
>Pretend you're a young-ish person for this
Depending on your definition of young-ish, I don't need to pretend. I'm 27, and I began collecting what are now considered "retro" games when I was in middle school.

As for the hoops you've mentioned...
>The 'muh capitalism' remains as the first hoop.
This one is fair, assuming you're struggling financially.
>The price is likely inflated, meaning you get less for more.
"Inflated" is both a loaded and relative term, and "likely" is inaccurate. Most retro games today cost significantly less than their MSRP, even before adjusting for inflation. Of those that don't, there's typically a reason why that's the case. Usually it's as simple as the demand for certain games being far greater now than back when they were in production.
>If you're a normie, you likely consider this old game worse than modern ones (which cost less).
All you're saying is "some people like X more than Y, which makes it unlikely which they'll buy Y." That's in no way unique to retro games. Also, no, most retro games cost under $70.
>You aren't actually paying the makers of the game, adding a free layer of doubt.
Spending money is just a way to gain access to the thing that I want. I don't care who it goes to, so long as there's no reasonable expectation that they'll use it to do harm.
>Extra entry for situational stuff (quality issues, compatibility, scams, bootlegs, etc)
I've had roughly a thousand games pass through my possession. Zero scams. Two bootlegs that I was able to get a full refund for with minimal effort. Maybe a half dozen condition issues. I'm not quite sure what you mean by "compatibility."

>If it was as simple as buying what you like, this thread would not exist.
I'm convinced this thread exists because neurotypicals are a tad on the neurotic side. If I want it, and I can reasonably afford it, I buy it. I don't get what the hang up is.
Replies: >>11863825
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 7:02:18 PM No.11863825
>>11863798
>If I want it, and I can reasonably afford it, I buy it. I don't get what the hang up is.

Would you believe that, while I was writing the post above, I almost word for word had this go through my head.

It was quickly followed up by "Wait, people who just buy things without thinking much aren't on /vr/ to begin with". I'm glad exceptions exist, but statistically it's true.

>"Inflated" is both a loaded and relative term, and "likely" is inaccurate. Most retro games today cost significantly less than their MSRP, even before adjusting for inflation

I'll easily admit that inflated is the wrong term, though I do think the post was clear enough without getting pedantic. The simple explanation is that anything with perceived collector's value gets price hiked. Not only that, but it doesn't take a genius to understand that older games should be less expensive than before - something which prices of old games -without- perceived extra value prove. Also, since retro games aren't found in stores anymore, you have to rely on trading, which is mostly online unless you're lucky enough to have a local community that does it. This means adding shipping to prices too, while modern games or rereleases are just digital.

>All you're saying is "some people like X more than Y, which makes it unlikely which they'll buy Y

Most people aren't into retro. It was never about personal taste, but ongoing trends. Retro isn't mainstream, at least not right now. If you think I'm wrong, then you've likely excluded the actual primary demographics of modern gamers (who are nonexistent here, btw) as irrelevant.

>I've had roughly a thousand games pass through my possession. Zero scams.

You're lucky. Or have good awareness. From the detail of your post I'm inclined to believe the latter. Scams are pretty common.
Replies: >>11863924
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 8:21:50 PM No.11863924
>>11863825
>I'll easily admit that inflated is the wrong term, though I do think the post was clear enough without getting pedantic.
It's difficult. This topic is full of bad faith engagement (from both sides of the aisle). Obviously, I don't think that's where you're coming from. But with topics this heated, I think precision is a little more important than usual. Apologies if I came across a picky.

>it doesn't take a genius to understand that older games should be less expensive than before
I hear people say this (or simillar) quite frequently. But the question I always have is, how do you determine what the price of something ought be without taking into account supply and demand? Capitalism is brutal and unfair, and I'm by no means its cheerleader. But in a truly open and unregulated market (which retro games are subject to), an items price is directly commensurate with its perceived worth. Otherwise, people simply wouldn't pay. I don't know how you can get around this fact.

>If you think I'm wrong, then you've likely excluded the actual primary demographics of modern gamers
I don't think you're wrong. I guess I just don't really understand what point you're making with that specific example. Most of what you'd said pertained to people who are conflicted about buying retro games. To even reach that point, the kind of person you've described - someone who doesn't really like retro games in the first place - is excluded by default.

>Scams are pretty common.
I don't think I do anything too special. I just stick to established sellers with overwhelmingly positive feedback. However, when it comes to identifying counterfeits, I'm probably a bit more thorough than most.
Replies: >>11864018
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 8:26:35 PM No.11863929
>>11862625 (OP)
I decide how much I'm willing to pay for a game. Sometimes it's about availability rather than market price.
There's very few games I'm willing to pay over a hundred for, but I know those particular games are rare enough that if I ever do see a copy being sold that I'd probably pay even well above whatever the "market price" is according to sites like Pricecharting.
Otherwise Pricecharting is mostly useful for things like if I see a game being sold for 20 and I'd be willing to pay that, but Pricecharting says it only goes for 10 on average then it's probably a deal worth skipping. But if Pricecharting says it goes for 40 then that adds extra incentive to consider this copy for 20 as a lot of resellers follow Pricecharting religiously so I'm unlikely to see a copy for 20 again anytime soon.
But I'm not buying games based on value. If I see a game going for 40 that Pricecharting says is worth 140, I'll probably still skip it if I wasn't willing to already pay 40 for it. No point buying just for monetary value unless you're a dedicated reseller.
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 8:35:04 PM No.11863956
>>11862625 (OP)
They are not.

Just emulate.
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 8:59:29 PM No.11863998
>>11863706
>Are normies actually incapable of valuing their physical possessions for anything other than their utility
For anything mass produced this seems like a fair philosophy. I'll treasure my grandma's hand knitted clothes over some old plastic cartridges
Anonymous
7/12/2025, 9:13:39 PM No.11864018
>>11863924
> don't think you're wrong. I guess I just don't really understand what point you're making with that specific example.

Simple. Going by economics, the primary gaming market is first and formost a global army of (often unsupervised) children. I believe mobile "gamers" come next (and two do overlap, yes). Only then do you get into proper gaming, and only from there do you get into retro gaming. We have a community, yes, but we are incredibly niche going by global standards.

Companies rerelease their games, typically just emulated, because it's close to zero effort compared to making games, and an easy nostalgia cash grab. That's about it.