At what point do you sell a valuable item from your collection?

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

42 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

When it exceeds the cost I would be willing to buy it for.

"Flower, Sun and Rain commands $150+?  Would I buy it for that much?  No?"  *lists on eBay*

I agree to a point -- but there can be a pretty wide spread between what I'm willing to spend on an item, and how much someone has to pay me to go through the process of selling it and shipping it.

For smaller items that drop into a padded mailer, that spread gets a lot narrower

[Reed Rothchild | 9,931]

Just now, arch_8ngel said:

I agree to a point -- but there can be a pretty wide spread between what I'm willing to spend on an item, and how much someone has to pay me to go through the process of selling it and shipping it.

For smaller items that drop into a padded mailer, that spread gets a lot narrower

I don't bother selling smaller things.

And I have certain shipping hacks available to me that reduce the effort and overhead to almost nothing.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,931]

2 minutes ago, Shmup said:

That game goes for $150?! I need to see if I still have it haha. 

Mine is sealed.  I'm not sure on exact values.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

20 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I don't bother selling smaller things.

And I have certain shipping hacks available to me that reduce the effort and overhead to almost nothing.

I don't bother unless I'm in a house-cleaning mode and kind of get into the flow.

Would be interested in what shipping hacks you're referring to.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,931]

Just now, arch_8ngel said:

I don't bother unless I'm in a house-cleaning mode and kind of get into the flow.

Would be interested in what shipping hacks you're referring to.

Nothing too complicated.  Free materials, and I have my entire inventory at my office, away from destructive children hands.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

3 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Nothing too complicated.  Free materials, and I have my entire inventory at my office, away from destructive children hands.

Ha!  I'm actually taking the opposite tack and letting my kids help me take pictures and post stuff to eBay, to let them learn the process.

Edited November 25, 2020 by arch_8ngel

[Reed Rothchild | 9,931]

2 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

Ha!

And easy access to an oversized box.  Basically, if my phone makes a cash register noise I can have the item in the mail in 3 minutes.

[GPX | 1,404]

Here’s my working formula for when to sell a rare game:

(game value) > [(rarity) + (nostalgia value)] / [probability of finding one in better condition]

But then reality kicks in, “I need some quick meaty cash” = “time to sell a rare game”.

[Tabonga | 2,533]

7 hours ago, Dan64 said:

NEVER! Cremate me with the games!

 

[T-Pac | 7,871]

Interesting question - I love all the varying responses here.

With the rare exception of 'extra' games I've accumulated in bulk purchases or something, every addition to my collection over the past 6-7 years has been a calculated decision. I learned about a game that personally interested me, researched it to see if I'd enjoy it, and got myself a copy when the price was right for me. I consider nearly every game I have to be a valuable part of my collection, even if it's just for the 'novelty factor' when the gameplay itself didn't live up to my expectations.

That being said, if I found myself strapped for cash, I'd much prefer to put in some overtime at work or something rather than remove an item I care about from my collection. Even if it's worth a lot more than I paid for it, it would be hard for the monetary value to outweigh the personal value I have for my games (in most cases).

-CasualCart

[T-Pac | 7,871]

Wow - reading back my own response makes me realize what a slave to materialism I am haha.

Props to everyone who's willing to purge their collectibles when it feels like the right move to make.

-CasualCart

[Bighab | 58]

I've sold off some rares that didn't have any nostalgic value to me. I started Snes collecting late(around 2003) and a few years ago I sold off stuff that I enjoyed(CIB's WildGuns, Ninja Gaiden Trilogy, EVO) but didn't plan on playing again. I love my Sega CD stuff(Snatcher, Space Adventure Cobra) but at what point do these old CD games stop working(disk rot) and you should consider dumping them?

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,042]

You can always buy back games, or anything else really. I sold off a large chunk of my collection in 2014-2015 and bought back a ton with no regret. I needed the money and now I have money to spend. 

The only things I hadn't sold were sentimental items. I honestly like my collect more now than I did not old collection, despite having fewer games overall. 

Edited November 29, 2020 by RegularGuyGamer

[Admiral Togo | 1]

On 11/25/2020 at 1:04 PM, Reed Rothchild said:

When it exceeds the cost I would be willing to buy it for.

"Flower, Sun and Rain commands $150+?  Would I buy it for that much?  No?"  *lists on eBay*

That when you keep it because you never be able to find it cheaper again ever. I don't sell. Only if I have doubles.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,931]

48 minutes ago, Admiral Togo said:

That when you keep it because you never be able to find it cheaper again ever. I don't sell. Only if I have doubles.

But maybe the games I would have bought with the money from selling it will go out of print before I would have bought them, ensuring I missed my opportunity to get them cheap.

[acromite53 | 338]

In my case, I was saving up for a larger, more expensive item. I only got rid of the games I had no attachment too. It was miscellaneous stuff not part of the core collection.

[Tanooki | 5,115]

I'm sure I'm just parroting other people here with this.

The time for an item to go has to be when I'm no longer interested in it, if it's something I use, I just don't want to use it anymore for whatever reason.  As some know I had a pinball machine, two even over the last 5 years.  I recently sold the second one off because it mostly just sat here.  It made me happy with it there, but it didn't make me happy using it because it's historically known as one of the more sadistic instant ball loss tables, a nice companion if you have a few others, not on its own so I dumped it on someone who had a room full who could appreciate it around its fury inducing bs.

I do the same even with a five dollar video game or some cheap little old toy I got somewhere over the years.  The money isn't the object, but it would be a lie saying it didn't.  I pretend I'm paypal poor, while I actually still do have the total from my pinball machine there.  My computer is six years old, it's starting to show its age and could up and decide to stop some time too even if it doesn't get that old to be annoying, so I have that there to replace it.  I've got a video game, and even an old toy that's into the low four figure range, and you know what, I keep them.  I like them, sure they have value, but I'd rather enjoy them than take the payout.

[portabello | 104]

I’ve curated my ideal collection at this point. I both bought and sold over the last 10yrs and any time I let go of a higher priced item along the way, it was always because the item no longer brought me the kind of joy I thought it would. A good example of this was I had a nice CIB copy of Super Mario Bros... but I realized that the cheap combo cart with Duck Hunt in an original Nintendo sleeve was so much more nostalgic and enjoyable for me, so that was easy to let go of. If I found a rare title in the wild, I’d usually enjoy it for a while and then pass it along to someone that wanted it more than me.

[egg_sanwich | 1]

Yeah if I'm no longer interested in the game and it's been years since I've played it, it's time to go.

Enjoyment value is more important to me, and if the financial value exceeds the enjoyment value then I don't mind selling it and putting the funds to use elsewhere.