People have the perfect answer for this, but they don't do it and that is... stop buying from resellers that mark stuff up by ridiculous amounts. The moment it stops being profitable for them to abuse consumers like that, it's the moment that practice will die out.
Over the last few years game collecting has gotten so out of hand and the part that is crazy is that rare games are not the ones being flipped at a fast rate anymore it’s popular games that sold millions of copies like Pokémon games
Pokémon is more popular then it has ever been, those games may have sold millions but now there are millions more who want them but didn’t buy them when they came out. The market has increased and the supply is not so of course prices will increase as the limited supply is fought for.
To the people who say "support your local game store" I say "why?". They went to all flee markets, thrift stores, garage sales and made cheap games become expensive games. I say play ROMs until the market crashes.
well maybe because you could game store that has good price and a huge selection of games goes out of business. That happened in my area twice and only have two retro video game stores left with them being very overpriced. one being a huge chain in the northeast America and the other where the guy goes by the highest price on ebay and marks it at that much. Like super mario world average is not $50.
What you dont realize is that even the casual sellers on fb market will base their prices on how much the resellers are listing them. Especially when those resellers have a platform and their listing are at the top results when searching for prices online. They dictate the market
To be honest, the insane prices nowadays have made me appreciate my collection even more! I dont really buy many new retro games anymore. Just doing trades and getting cheaper titles I'm actually interested in playing. I have no problems with emulation either, but I do enjoy playing on original hardware the most! So I will continue doing that!
Same. It's helped me slow down on my collection, thin out and really start digging into the games. Completed 5 games in the last few months and sampled many more I played in the past. It's been fun going to my library and checking out something on a Thursday night after the long work week. I fix retro consoles as a hobbiest learning more about electronics shout out to "Adrians Digital Basement" i test and play games on them and have a fun cube shelf all repaired "dead" systems and some childhood ones. Even still i do have a "Mister" fpga for my arcade and thay does get a lot of play time. Very convienent and now supporting N64. That gets my attention quite a bit but fridays and Saturday's im repairing things and playing on the hardware I fixed. I love it
So true wgat u said. I can relate. My thoughts and sentiments exactly. Now finally i can play and just sell the extras and also i can play 2 or 3 Emulation devicea. Because we have to save money snd Play games. That's the purpose to play the games.
I started feeling fed up with the whole reseller culture when I saw a guy on CZcams who purposely brought a disabled neighbor with him to flea markets to haggle and get more sympathy points. When he found awesome deals he would negotiate the sellers to lower their prices even further just so he could boast about the additional savings. It was gross
@@ConsoleKev Yea well people with wieners and meant to be boys and people with who who’s are meant to be girls… And look how that’s going. Life is complicated.
Every collecting market goes through this. Right now, people with little to no interest in the genre of video games, are purchasing and selling. Eventually, this will slow down or even stop. I hope that there aren’t too many people falling victim to some of these inflated prices. However, “buyer beware” should never be forgotten. I have been collecting for over 20 years. It’s the thrill of the hunt for me. Whether it’s antique shops, flea markets, 2nd and Charles, half price books, or even the occasional brick and mortar game store, there are deals to be found. There is still fun to be had in this hobby. There always will be.
Sorry but you're ill informed, and aren't in the loop. What you think is going to happen is what normal people who have no idea what they're talking about think. It's definitely not going to stop ever with Nintendo, Pokemon, the lost goes on. Always nice talking to you NPCs though
Lots of hypocrisy in this video. You crap on games rotting away on a shelf as you have games rotting away on a shelf behind you. You crap on resellers and bad resellers specifically and justify your sale of your collection to one of the most awful resellers which is contributing to the very culture your calling out in the video. I get where you were trying to go with this video but you didn't stick the landing.
The whole retro scene got ridiculous years ago. I sold all my old stuff a few years back Made my tidy lil' sum and never looked back. Bought a new hi-fi setup in my living room with the profits that I use every day. Best of luck to anyone who wants to get into that hobby now.
I'm 54 years old. And in 2005 I sold my whole videogames collection, including 100s of magazines, to pump the money into my x-ray tech career. And I thought I'll get it later. I saw how the games began skyrocketing when you tubers like AVGN began covering them that's I was part of the problem. Flashforward to now...in 2016 I lost my x-ray career!😭 Now 2024 it's costing me $1,000s to get only a part of my collection back not even counting the magazines! Back in the day I sold games for $1, systems for $20 all MIB, magazines for $.25 cents. I only made like $1,200 back in 2005 because NOBODY wanted this old tech. Nowadays resellers and scalpers have taken over the hobby and they expect to sell for $40 a loose NES game with magic marker writing! I wouldn't mind paying good money for a MIB game or unopened but then these parasites want $120 for them in that conditon!😡 A local retro store wants $150 for an unopened Robotron 64 but I found a loose copy for $10 it's ridiculous! There wasn't that many retro stores back then because it was honest business. Now it's just scalpers that don't even have a store with employees they do everything on-line it makes me wanna throw up.🤮 I just wish everything goes back to normal before I complete my retro collection.🤔
I agree. I collect since 1996 when i bought my NES with my own money. I boght it because i was poor. Old consoles were cheap. Just in 2009 -2011 i find nes and snes games for like a dollar or less... now those are like 10 dlls the ones that where awful cheap games... i buy today from japan boxed games because its cheaper.. or buy multicartidge games.. just to play...
Interesting story, makes me curious about the x ray career situation too. You know something funny, there was a mad tv skit about old tech in the very distant future and they showed an original Xbox and the character said it was worthless. I don’t think that skit aged too well considering how things are playing out now
I don't understand why this is even still a discussion lol CZcams ruined the whole collecting scene. Resellers for everything get on CZcams hype it up and the price skyrockets simple cause and effect.
I don't get why people think Video Games are immune or should be held to a different standard than Baseball cards, vintage toys or any other collectible/antique. The price shoots up as the rarity increases and a business marketplace is built around it... The marketplace will fluctuate in and out of the buyer's favor and conversely in and out of the seller's favor as well. Just because it's the thing YOU like and you don't have enough money to have all of it doesn't mean the world should change just for you. It's whining. That's all it is. If you want the games so badly, you're gonna have to work, and pay good money for them. Welcome to reality. And now you know why I choose to emulate and not have a physical copy of every game I love. Because unlike the baseball cards, or vintage toys, we have an alternate way to enjoy the product itself. You knock the resellers, but they're the ones putting in the footwork going to garage sales, swap meets and people like RGT who offload a collection so you can make two clicks on ebay and have it shipped to your house and THEIR *TIME* IS GOING TO COST *YOU* *MONEY* If you want to truly own these games just to have them on a shelf collecting dust like you own a museum (and maybe play Ducktales every 6 years) then by all means, do what you enjoy. Just understand you aren't the only one and nothing in life that is worth having TO YOU, will EVER come easy. That's the world, that's reality. GET OVER IT.
or even financial stocks for that matter. If the company is doing well, you won't get any stocks on the cheap, you'll have to pay premium, since everyone wants in on the action. It's a basic human nature, supply and demand.
I definitely agree with your take. I wish it didn't have to be like this, but I also wish other hobbies weren't so expensive either. But I think video game collectors and whoever else are upset because this is the first time it has happened in the video game collecting space.
When I was a middle schooler in the 00s you could go to a flea market or a goodwill and pick up some SNES cartridges for a few bucks a pop, and you'd find some good stuff too! Not just sports games. It wasn't the console gen I grew up with but I got into it because it was a fun and cheap way to get to play some great games. But this hustle grindset mental illness has affected everything. It's been pretty bad for a while, and the only thing I collect anymore is books, but yeah there's something I find really crass and unpleasant about people like Phoenix Resale. Nothing but dollar signs in his eyes.
a whole generation was brought up worshipping the dollar like God or something. It's all they know. We are at the point where these kids are about to be doing gay for pay stuff, then will say they are not gay, it's just a job. Rofl. Pretty funny/sad/terrible.
RGT the answer to your headline is not a simple "yes" or no". the answer is complicated. Are *item scalping* resellers being unethical and shady ruining retro game collecting? yes. Are ETHICAL and fair resellers ruining retro game collecting? NO. It's the reslleres that * have a warehouse or storage unit FILLED with old consoles and games* (and have EBAY listings for common consoles and fairly common games and charging massively inflated prices on them) those kinds of shady, deceptive resellers in the US and in Japan are ruining retro game collecting. Like a loose working NES is maybe worth $10 for example, but some "resellers" buy 20~30 NES consoles and are charging $55~$100 each on their Ebay shop or at Conventions or in their brick n mortar shops, it's the SHADY and greedy type of resellers that massively upcharge on games and console far beyond what they *should* be worth that are ruining retro game collecting. Sonic the hedgehog 1 or Super Mario Bros. are maybe worth $10, but many think it's ok to sell those games loose for $25~$35 to take advantage of the casual retro game collector/enthusiast. These are the "DK Oldies" type of resellers, Retro game Resell SCALPERS. The small time, ethical resellers are NOT contributing to the inflation of prices to retro games. Azzholes like the owner of DK Oldies, the Game Grading gifters, the unethical... they are the one's ruining things. Not the small-time resellers that are being ethical and fair...
To me, the resellers aren't an issue, until they are... "I got into the vendor's hall a few hours early! Let's go hunting!" Gee.... Yeah, taking advantage much? Then of course they only get deals they do because they're famous. Due to this, I'm now a casual collector. If I pay anything, it'll be no more than $50 or $60 now, unless I can get a similar deal.
Very short answer, yes. I remember going to the Salvation Army in 2002, you can get an NES, two controllers, the zapper, Mario Bros / Duck Hunt, and ten other games for $50 lol. I saw a Sega Saturn with Virtua Cop and gun for $30. If I had the money at the time, I would have bought it all.
Trust me, not everyone welcomed resellers with open arms. There's a difference between resellers and people like Phoenix taking advantage of the videogame community. Let's not even get in on the scam of his app. Heckin Steve explains it well, bad behavior of resellers need to be called out
I haven't sold my collection, but the reseller shenanigans/sky high retro prices + emulation handhelds have all completely decimated my desire to acquire any more retro games.
@@jeffrielly my saturn can play backups but there's just something to having those long boxes, being able to pull out and read the manual, there's a feel to it that i adore.
Also download and print the manuals. Buy some reproduction cases. It'll be significantly cheaper than trying to buy games that are going to rot within the next 20 years
I got into collecting late so the sticker prices are not a total shock because it’s more or less what I’m use too. However some stores are definitely out of hand. Others don’t even put the good games they have on the shelf and sell those to Amazon ect. It is a rip off honestly; however one that many including myself will pay for even subconsciously and consciously knowing we are paying to much for old games.
That's what I did; went from having a $30k collection to selling it all and just having the consoles with everdrives. From there I got a steam deck and put everything up through ps2 on sd cards and it gives me the ability to game on the go now. For everything above that, or stuff that just doesn't emulate well, I just have modded consoles. Play more games now than I ever have. I do miss my awesome collection sometimes though.
Same. I sold a large chunk of my collection and was able to mod my consoles for ODEs and buy a few everdrives. I also bought a mini PC and filled it full of stuff. So I have a CRT setup and a huge emulation setup for my flat screen. I miss a few of those games but I like my setup now.
Same, i once had a Boxed Nintendo 64 Collection of my most favorite games but when i heard the Everdrive would be out at some Time, i sold EVERYTHING and in the end i would still have every game to play and not having to shell out massive amounts of money to get what i want.
My biggest concern is simply pricing getting out of hand. I want games to be as accessible as possible. Emulation is great, but its not always the answer.
I've given up collecting games since covid. Even trying to buy new limited editions of games I like is a nightmare. Wish I could get up to speed with emulation, but don't know where to start. Great video!
Yes because even Nintendo switch games are getting over priced. I see bendy and the ink machine on Argos, for £20 pounds and was out of stock. Then I go on f'n eBay and it's selling between 50 and 70 opened, and it isn't even rare. It's nuts. I know your vid was about retro stuff more. But I'm seeing it all over the place right now with Nintendo switch stuff!
The problem is when people realize there is a market they manipulate said market. Like I have a game I want the value to go up in said game. Sell it to myself to a high value a few times. Then boom that’s the new value of said game because it sold for that amount previously.
I started getting gba games. The price is one thing, and it does make retro game buying annoying. The bit I can't stomach is the amount of fakes on ebay. I think I'm just going to play roms.
I tihnk the push toward digital collections has put into sharp focus the fact that one all physical media will be obsolete. So I doubt the sale and resale of video games will ever really die off, these are cultural artifacts at the end of the day, like it or not.
I don't really blame resellers... this was all inevitable with games / consoles getting older and becoming more rare. Value was always bound to increase and there are always people who are gonna take advantage of the market & inflate it if they can. It doesn't just happen with video games, it's everything vintage, vintage records, vintage clothes, collectibles etc.
I'm a gamer, not a collector. I'm always in the process of getting new games, and getting rid of old ones. I do buy retro games, but only to play. If I'm not playing them, it's only a matter of time until I get rid of them. I've never seen the point in having shelves of games just sitting there unused.
I think the main problem is hype and fomo. During the pandemic people were looking into these games and of course with the stimulus money went and bought like crazy. Which inflated the market for everything. With that being said, the values of all these games and consoles are staying up in price because sellers see the new market value set by the buyers from the pandemic. Then videos that have "top 10 games for (insert console here)" i personally think triggers fomo for certain people and then they proceed to buy at a high price which keeps the market high. I dont think resellers are necessarily at fault here, to me its the people that fell into it without doing their research and due diligence. The need for instant gratification is also to blame but thats another story.
The hype is definitely a large factor. There are billions of dollars in video games these days. We have movies, esports, esports gambling, new/retro games. Those stimulus packages hurt the country as a whole pretty much any collectible shot up(tcg, games, coins, sneakers) along with vehicles, real estate. Prices are gradually coming down to what will be a new baseline. People who can not imagine spending hundreds or thousands on games needed to find an entity to blame so they locked on to Grading companies, auction houses, and resellers. Sure everyone has a role but people fail to look at how large the hobby has grown. Looks at the content creators on CZcams, tiktok, instagram. The sheer number of conventions, swap meets, tournaments. So many people want to have these impressive, flashy, expensive collections but either don’t want to put in the work.
YES! Over $40 for games that game out over 20 YEARS AGO is ridiculous and these resellers have created the problem and are now making it worse! These games should be accessible and affordable, not so expensive that they end up costing as much as or more than current gen offerings!
Why should a product that is harder to get today be worth LESS than it was when it was readily available on retail shelves. No other hobby seems to have this backwards philosophy on value. Cards, Bennie Babies and even currency (old coins or dollar bills) only go up in value over time if it is desired. If the reseller's products have no value, no desirability they will sit on shelves forever until the asking price drops.
Absolutely! I find it hilarious when I go on eBay and something is listed as rare but there’s literally a hundred to choose from and all at extortionate prices of course!
I run a pretty decent size retro store in SWFL. You'd be shocked at how many high-end collectors feast on store inventory when it comes to larger cost items. They want them in hand, they want them with a warranty (not the fear the eBay seller will push back), and they want to haggle with you. They want the Earthbound you have listed for 350 for 320. And that's a part of the fun. As for the resellers, I think the small thing you missed was that during the pandemic these resellers like Caleb taught an entire audience how to earn extra income via a way they didn't initially know about. His videos started me on eBay, and then flea markets, and now a very successful store. That's likely why people were never up in arms about them. Good video.
Thank you for making this video, walls of plastic cases with paper inserts and plastic discs or cartridges with labels on them going for hundreds or thousands of dollars is absolute lunacy. As you've stated there are way, way, way easier ways to enjoy gaming instead of hunting down pieces of plastic and paper to feel like you're more importantly than someone else who doesn't have the aforementioned. It's lunacy.
I hate to say it.. I do agree with you, about resellers especially on retro games and CZcams in general. About 20 years ago or more, that old video games used to be dirt cheap at flea markets, thrift stores, pawn shops and of course there's eBay back then but at the time they didn't really care how much those games go for or how much they've been sold if you have internet.
im currently trying to build my ds, 3ds and switch collection. so many games that I was looking at are $50-100+ which is crazy. also collecting low dollar ps3 and wii games.
I love collecting for the Neo Geo. Still some of the most beautiful pixel art, huge cartridges, great artwork and very low volumes produced. It's both easy (small library) and hard to collect for (rarity+price). It's just as fun to play these games as they are to collect them. The market has gone insane for rarest games but... and I'm curious how long it will take for prices to drop. SNK is doing a nice job keeping the spirit alive but will have to see how things go in the future.
It's not fun to collect for Neo Geo, if you refer to the AES it got insane prices like 20K for Metal Slug or even worse examples. Those games that are cheap are some of the less desired titles like the KOF series Samurai Spirits 1 and 2 etc, they are just fillers. The real good stuff like Blazing Stars, Garou Mark Of The Wolves are sold to such saturated prices, you can get a good Rolex watch for that price. I still have my AES that i bought in the 90s with 23 games, but it's impossible to collect for it these days.
All game resellers that have invested money in Paper Mario the thousand-year door. going to lose a lot of money this year. I still can't believe we're going to get a remake
It's gotten out of hand in that a few huge players are controlling and manipulating price of the entire retro game market. These items all have a fixed supply that they keep scooping up more of and can then artificially push up the price of these old games.
I actually find joy in watching these “Game Collectors” try and haggle people who know they’re resellers and they don’t get the deals they wanted…. JRPG Life is one that I get the most joy from I love it when people won’t go down on their prices…. Mainly because I saw them hustle a 12 year old kid on one of their videos for a Funtastic N64 and some games, they offered this kid $20 for the console and games all while having the $200 sold listing for just the console up and were bragging about it…. It’s people like that that I wish would have a flood or fire to just the game collection so they can feel the pain that I’m sure that kid who doesn’t have a job felt when he watched their video and saw them bragging about how they just hustled him
I feel people have wised up for Retro. When I first started hunting for nes , snes , genesis stuff. I found them all in garage sales , flea markets , thrift stores for almost nothing. People wanted to get rid. I will say 2014 ish , suddenly people are selling them at ebay prices. Looking at their phones seeing how much it's worth. Articles in 2015 , saying you're old game maybe be worth Thousands. Kinda ruined the hobby , also alot of people jumped on it around the same year. Moving to something more modern , people buying limited run games , they aren't doing for collecting purposes , they just know limited supply , medium to high demand. They are scum but it's not illegal. Just wait for Nintendo Switch 2 launch, It's going to be scalped like crazy.
Same with Bourbon… It got so bad here in Virginia that they had to change the rules because the scalpers (most of whom don’t even drink bourbon) where getting all the good stuff before it was even put on the shelf
Different folks, different strokes.. I don’t care for modern games nor do I like to need internet to play my games. I see my collection as a part of who I am. Physical and offline is what I like
I agree with you. The only ones really buy are casual gamers. But it does ruin the fun though of shopping at flea market. Swap meets and garage sales because everybody is selling them for too much money. Part of the thrill for me was just to buy a game for cheap, not with no thought of reselling it.
I don't really like the people who do the resale that are cutthroat on it but that is on a personal level. It's more of an annoyance to collectors than anything else. I mainly see things that contribute to raising prices takes advantage of younger generations who don't know about emulation.
This has been my dilemma for a long time. I've saved nearly every game I've ever bought with the collection being worth quite a lot at this point. I have a family that a large sum of money could make very happy. However, I struggle selling them at current prices, my gut tells me to find someone who genuinely loves games and have them take them. It's the same thing I did with my comics some years ago. I listed them online and a kid showed up who was excited to look through them. I just kept handing comic after comic of my favorites because it made him happy.
I mean it’s gotten crazy in all hobbies, music, cards, & collectibles. It’s why I got what I want and sold the rest for a lot of hobbies and play them via other avenues.
I see some of the problem of high prices due to resellers. I know people have to make a buck but I come from an era in time where if you see a price you don’t like, walk. nobody likes a haggler;especially one that constantly begs. I doubt any reseller would give a deal like the one’s they try to get at 50%off.
You're right. They only want to pay 40 percent of the market value, if that, they would never sell anything to someone for the prices that they pay because they are too damn greedy and cheap.
BRUH, I was legit waiting to watch this video and be like, "here we go another idiots take on video game collecting and reselling." This is by far the best video I've seen on the subject. People need to stop crying over everything! If you don't want to pay X amount of dollars for a game cuz you think it's worth less, then DONT BUY IT! Customers/Buyers control the market. Don't like the price? Then get a different game.
I started to see the prices going up, so I made sure before they did I picked up a few of the physical handheld consoles I wanted and the handful of physical carts I used to have. To actually play, I swapped over to the handheld emulation route.
Ive been saying for years the consumers have accountability as well. you dee and others have pointed out what we do. I dont hide it I've scalped before its part of the reselling game. End of the day everyone just out trying to make a living. Customers if they don't wanna pay the full price like you said should just emulate everything they want to play thats expensive. if all consumers stopped paying up the prices would drop. Love your videos as always maybe one day ill join the hulk hogan collectors club too lol he lives by me up in Clearwater. Sometimes if you go to his shop at the beach you'll see him or his son there.
I’m one of the few that still collects games to actually collect games…working towards sets or genres. I’m more of a shelf collector but do play some of the games. I’ve been collecting for roughly 15 years now and my collection is crazy big (approaching 4,000 games (nothing modern) + 140 systems and handhelds) but it’s still fun to me. I still like to hunt and find stuff or trade for stuff. I’m still buying stuff all the time. I would never sell my stuff…don’t need the money…but it’s a really…really…nice nest egg if I ever do.
i agree and disagree with a fair amount, cause what is a "reseller" can change depending on what each person says , cause you can sell a game of yours you happen to buy for cheaper then worth to get a more desired game and in the terms you gave then you are a reseller, also i think resellers are more good then bad, they give a value to a game more then if there was non here, and i do think having your games have a bigger value then $1 is part of why people love collecting. people without thinking about it want goals to achieve, you want to work towards collecting that desirable high $ game and getting them one day, if no resellers games wont have a real high value now you can really just collect every game u want for a $1 and there is no goal or real accomplishment and u have a ton of games in 1 day, i personally have seen and know adding value $ wise to items makes them more desirable, more wanted. and thats part of the fun in collecting, trying to get that hard to get desirable piece.
also i dont think someone who flips a game for its worth to collect an item they want instead is really a true reseller, id say a reseller is really just someone who strictly does not collect anything in that area, and only buys to sell, and even that i see no issue with cause 1.) you want your collection to have value for the one day u may offload it for a new hobby, and 2.) if someone agrees to sell to them lower and they simply just list for its true value and make money thats ok, i think alot of people try to gate hold alot of hobbies nowadays cause they were "in it first" and they want all those super cheap prices and all that, but i think more people the more fun it is to connect and meet people in that hobby, if its a dead hobby and no one collect something, then ya cool you can get everything for under a $1 but then noone's there to share with or meet to do so lol.
Scalpers definitely ruined it. I bought my copy of Snatcher for $100 off eBay in 2006. Can't tell you the last time I've actually played that game on original hardware, but will likely never sell it. That one's a bit too significant and near & dear to me. Unfortunately, I still have this gene in me that wants the physical copies. Given the asinine prices now, though... and as 5th & 6th gens become easier and simpler to emulate, I'll likely be going that route myself. But when I truly enjoy a game, I still want the physical copy. But with modern games especially, physical copies are practically pointless, so it won't be an issue soon enough, going forward.
I personally don't have much time to physically hunt for games (family obligations) but resellers have the time and resources to find things I probably would not be able to find on my own. In my own case, I also collect games and peripherals for my Japanese computer systems and without international resources like eBay, Yahoo Auctions JP it definitely would have made it much harder to find things. The prices can be difficult at times but it's a double edged sword. I think most collecting / collectible hobbies have to (or eventually will) contend with supply / demand and all the drama that entails.
I collect video games, Modern and retro BMX bikes and many other things. In all hobbies, you have people that are a form of scalper. Buying up all of the new low numbered items just to control the secondary market for their personal financial gain. At the end of the day, you cannot put energy into those things from those people that you cannot control...... Just simply get the things that you can at reasonable prices and enjoy them for what they are.
I still like collecting physical retro games, it is not the cheapest hobby but I generally buy from retro game stores. A lot opened up in my areas post COVID times and I pretty much stopped using eBay or Amazon all together and realized I was paying to much usually on Amazon.
The beanie baby comparison is an apt one. It isnt desirable games driving this market, its market manipulation. Its video game resellers hording games to artificially create scarcity to increase the value of what they hold. This is always the problem with collectibles as speculative assets
I feel like people were more upset because of who you sold your collection too, that dude is complete scum. He had his viewers help him send GameCube games to help him complete his collection because it was his childhood dream, a few months later once he completed his collection he sells it all.
So…. I have been using ZSNES for emulation since 1995 😐I can use it for controllers and keep in mind I don’t think ZSNES has been updated in twenty years
As someone from Kentucky, our gamestores were so good before Phionex popped up. I remember I was able to buy so many games that were hard to find but now its impossible. I live in Mexico now and am the problem that he was in Kentucky so I get it. I don't resale but it definitely has ruined game collecting.
Very gray area. I guess whether its scummy or not depends on each individual circumstance. For me, reselling games subsidizes my game collecting. I find cheap games, meet them or go to their house, buy them, keep what i want, then sell the rest for 50-70% of market value. My thought is if they list it for a price and i do the leg work to go retrieve it, then resell it for discounted price, my moral compass is clear. I make a bit of cash and someone gets a game for under market price. All three parties benefit from the transactions.
If I ever sell my collection, it will be to someone that cares about the games...not some reseller that just cares about money. Resellers are ruining the hobby. Any deals that are out there are snapped up. The thrill of the hunt is on life support and resellers are standing by waiting to pull the plug. Resellers bring nothing good to the table....higher prices...less games to find...no interest in the hobby. They are leeches that want to suck the excitement out of everything they touch. When I used to collect Hot Wheels, resellers were trying to ruin that hobby for me and I gave them what they deserved. I began buying boxes of Hot Wheels from Toys R Us, sold them at cost, and undercut their sorry a$$es. They tried to buy me out but couldn't because I had enough stock in the end to open a store. Finally they gave up and left the flea market where they had been fleecing collectors and kids alike. To this day, I still look back on that time as the best part of collecting die-cast cars. I got to pull a few cars for myself and save kids and collectors money. 😊
I would love to see more reprints of lots of these games. Brand new official copies of sought-after retro games on disk and cartridge. It works for movies and music albums. Flood the market and drive the value of these old copies down. The original developer isn't seeing a penny of the resold games anyway, so the only ones who would be hurt are the resellers. I would love to complete my Xenosaga trilogy, but I'm not paying some reseller $250 for Xenosaga III.
Your reseller defense has plot holes and bias from selling to one but I like your reference to EarthBound. It sat on unsold on store shelves FOR YEARS and the slightly over 100k sales figure was shortly after release. It's a common game. For sure 200k or 300k. Was $35 loose 20 years ago before the hype train arrived.
I've been a game dealer off and on for about a decade. In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with game collecting, but I don't see the logic in people just buying games to throw them on a shelf and never actually play them again. I did build up a collection of original XBOX games over the years, but its for the simple fact I play the games frequently, and I'm not just buying them to stare at a game case on the wall. People really should consider just buying the games you really enjoy, rather than just buying to collect, and you dont have the break the bank to do it. There is some greed from game dealers too. Some will jack up prices to extreme levels anytime they think they can get away with it. Being a game dealer is not an easy job either. It takes an enormous amount of time and energy to list, sell, as well as manage inventory and bookkeeping. Then you have people constantly trying to rip you off, while having to deal with draconian policies from platform's like ebay.
I'm buying from collectors to expand my collection. I usually buy at Midwest Gaming Classic once a year for the systems I collect for. Or, I trade with fellow collectors.
It's not just games. The vinyl record market has the same problem. An album will sell out and immediately go on eBay for hundreds of dollars.
The sneaker market as well
I just hope that vinyl records are immune to the death of physical media...
What happens when you have a bunch of consumers
People have the perfect answer for this, but they don't do it and that is... stop buying from resellers that mark stuff up by ridiculous amounts. The moment it stops being profitable for them to abuse consumers like that, it's the moment that practice will die out.
Anything really that's collective is not safe from these scum bags
Over the last few years game collecting has gotten so out of hand and the part that is crazy is that rare games are not the ones being flipped at a fast rate anymore it’s popular games that sold millions of copies like Pokémon games
And this is why I emulate, it's not going to stop until people stop paying the insane prices.
oh boo-hoo. go cry some more about it.
Pokémon is more popular then it has ever been, those games may have sold millions but now there are millions more who want them but didn’t buy them when they came out. The market has increased and the supply is not so of course prices will increase as the limited supply is fought for.
@@torch-bearer9138 if that's the case then why hasn't Nintendo rereleased them digitally?
@@jeffrielly they did on the 3DS and they were very successful on the e-shop
To the people who say "support your local game store" I say "why?". They went to all flee markets, thrift stores, garage sales and made cheap games become expensive games. I say play ROMs until the market crashes.
Because i only have one game store and id like it to stay. Thx for trying to ruin my local gaming economy.
well maybe because you could game store that has good price and a huge selection of games goes out of business. That happened in my area twice and only have two retro video game stores left with them being very overpriced. one being a huge chain in the northeast America and the other where the guy goes by the highest price on ebay and marks it at that much. Like super mario world average is not $50.
@@Nukizukalocal gaming store ruined it for themself by charging $150 for a used copy of MGS Twin Snakes
Playing roms isn’t collecting
This isn’t quite accurate. Retro game stores usually get their stock from customer trade ins or purchases.
What you dont realize is that even the casual sellers on fb market will base their prices on how much the resellers are listing them. Especially when those resellers have a platform and their listing are at the top results when searching for prices online. They dictate the market
To be honest, the insane prices nowadays have made me appreciate my collection even more! I dont really buy many new retro games anymore. Just doing trades and getting cheaper titles I'm actually interested in playing. I have no problems with emulation either, but I do enjoy playing on original hardware the most! So I will continue doing that!
Same. It's helped me slow down on my collection, thin out and really start digging into the games. Completed 5 games in the last few months and sampled many more I played in the past. It's been fun going to my library and checking out something on a Thursday night after the long work week. I fix retro consoles as a hobbiest learning more about electronics shout out to "Adrians Digital Basement" i test and play games on them and have a fun cube shelf all repaired "dead" systems and some childhood ones.
Even still i do have a "Mister" fpga for my arcade and thay does get a lot of play time. Very convienent and now supporting N64. That gets my attention quite a bit but fridays and Saturday's im repairing things and playing on the hardware I fixed. I love it
So true wgat u said. I can relate. My thoughts and sentiments exactly. Now finally i can play and just sell the extras and also i can play 2 or 3 Emulation devicea. Because we have to save money snd Play games. That's the purpose to play the games.
Same!
This is the most transparent brag I’ve read from this video. “I’m really enjoying my collection cuz I got in early”.
That’s obnoxious
cheap games are cheap because their common
Alan wake remastered selling for $80 new on eBay when stores were selling it out at $20-25 is insane.
I started feeling fed up with the whole reseller culture when I saw a guy on CZcams who purposely brought a disabled neighbor with him to flea markets to haggle and get more sympathy points. When he found awesome deals he would negotiate the sellers to lower their prices even further just so he could boast about the additional savings. It was gross
What?! That’s incredibly scummy wtf
I know who you’re talking about. That dude really rubs me the wrong way
@@megamob5834 Who is he?
Who is it?
As someone who worked in a game store. Yes. There's a lot of people who buy games for no purpose other than to have them on a shelf.
People buy art to hang it on the wall too. Folks like to look at $h1t.
I have over 300 physical switch games. Most unopened 😉🤣
@@cf3661 👌📀
Art's purpose is to be looked at. Video games are meant to be played
@@ConsoleKev Yea well people with wieners and meant to be boys and people with who who’s are meant to be girls… And look how that’s going. Life is complicated.
Every collecting market goes through this. Right now, people with little to no interest in the genre of video games, are purchasing and selling. Eventually, this will slow down or even stop. I hope that there aren’t too many people falling victim to some of these inflated prices. However, “buyer beware” should never be forgotten.
I have been collecting for over 20 years. It’s the thrill of the hunt for me. Whether it’s antique shops, flea markets, 2nd and Charles, half price books, or even the occasional brick and mortar game store, there are deals to be found. There is still fun to be had in this hobby. There always will be.
It only stops once the consumers stop
I agree
So in other words...you're a video game re-seller.
Sorry but you're ill informed, and aren't in the loop. What you think is going to happen is what normal people who have no idea what they're talking about think.
It's definitely not going to stop ever with Nintendo, Pokemon, the lost goes on.
Always nice talking to you NPCs though
@@davida12345 nice English 👌
Lots of hypocrisy in this video. You crap on games rotting away on a shelf as you have games rotting away on a shelf behind you. You crap on resellers and bad resellers specifically and justify your sale of your collection to one of the most awful resellers which is contributing to the very culture your calling out in the video. I get where you were trying to go with this video but you didn't stick the landing.
Who did he sell his collection to?
The whole retro scene got ridiculous years ago. I sold all my old stuff a few years back Made my tidy lil' sum and never looked back. Bought a new hi-fi setup in my living room with the profits that I use every day. Best of luck to anyone who wants to get into that hobby now.
You can always emulate whatever you wanna play🤘 other than DS games😂
@@Ichabod_Jericho Ackchyually…
@@martinrc80 🤓🥸🤓🥸🤓🥸🤓🥸
I'm 54 years old. And in 2005 I sold my whole videogames collection, including 100s of magazines, to pump the money into my x-ray tech career. And I thought I'll get it later. I saw how the games began skyrocketing when you tubers like AVGN began covering them that's I was part of the problem. Flashforward to now...in 2016 I lost my x-ray career!😭 Now 2024 it's costing me $1,000s to get only a part of my collection back not even counting the magazines! Back in the day I sold games for $1, systems for $20 all MIB, magazines for $.25 cents. I only made like $1,200 back in 2005 because NOBODY wanted this old tech. Nowadays resellers and scalpers have taken over the hobby and they expect to sell for $40 a loose NES game with magic marker writing! I wouldn't mind paying good money for a MIB game or unopened but then these parasites want $120 for them in that conditon!😡 A local retro store wants $150 for an unopened Robotron 64 but I found a loose copy for $10 it's ridiculous! There wasn't that many retro stores back then because it was honest business. Now it's just scalpers that don't even have a store with employees they do everything on-line it makes me wanna throw up.🤮 I just wish everything goes back to normal before I complete my retro collection.🤔
I agree. I collect since 1996 when i bought my NES with my own money. I boght it because i was poor. Old consoles were cheap. Just in 2009 -2011 i find nes and snes games for like a dollar or less... now those are like 10 dlls the ones that where awful cheap games... i buy today from japan boxed games because its cheaper.. or buy multicartidge games.. just to play...
@juelesvarado yeah that's true. I would like to buy multi-carts but I'm afraid they'll fry my system like it has happened to some people.🤔
They don’t expect to…they so
120 isn’t even very much money
Interesting story, makes me curious about the x ray career situation too. You know something funny, there was a mad tv skit about old tech in the very distant future and they showed an original Xbox and the character said it was worthless. I don’t think that skit aged too well considering how things are playing out now
Yes they have been for well over a decade now
I don't understand why this is even still a discussion lol CZcams ruined the whole collecting scene. Resellers for everything get on CZcams hype it up and the price skyrockets simple cause and effect.
Right 😂 this is a video made a decade late.
I don't get why people think Video Games are immune or should be held to a different standard than Baseball cards, vintage toys or any other collectible/antique. The price shoots up as the rarity increases and a business marketplace is built around it... The marketplace will fluctuate in and out of the buyer's favor and conversely in and out of the seller's favor as well. Just because it's the thing YOU like and you don't have enough money to have all of it doesn't mean the world should change just for you. It's whining. That's all it is. If you want the games so badly, you're gonna have to work, and pay good money for them. Welcome to reality. And now you know why I choose to emulate and not have a physical copy of every game I love. Because unlike the baseball cards, or vintage toys, we have an alternate way to enjoy the product itself.
You knock the resellers, but they're the ones putting in the footwork going to garage sales, swap meets and people like RGT who offload a collection so you can make two clicks on ebay and have it shipped to your house and THEIR *TIME* IS GOING TO COST *YOU* *MONEY*
If you want to truly own these games just to have them on a shelf collecting dust like you own a museum (and maybe play Ducktales every 6 years) then by all means, do what you enjoy. Just understand you aren't the only one and nothing in life that is worth having TO YOU, will EVER come easy. That's the world, that's reality. GET OVER IT.
or even financial stocks for that matter. If the company is doing well, you won't get any stocks on the cheap, you'll have to pay premium, since everyone wants in on the action. It's a basic human nature, supply and demand.
I definitely agree with your take. I wish it didn't have to be like this, but I also wish other hobbies weren't so expensive either. But I think video game collectors and whoever else are upset because this is the first time it has happened in the video game collecting space.
Couldn't have said fhis better myself. It is just whining. Same goes on with arcade collectors.
Exactly
When I was a middle schooler in the 00s you could go to a flea market or a goodwill and pick up some SNES cartridges for a few bucks a pop, and you'd find some good stuff too! Not just sports games. It wasn't the console gen I grew up with but I got into it because it was a fun and cheap way to get to play some great games. But this hustle grindset mental illness has affected everything. It's been pretty bad for a while, and the only thing I collect anymore is books, but yeah there's something I find really crass and unpleasant about people like Phoenix Resale. Nothing but dollar signs in his eyes.
a whole generation was brought up worshipping the dollar like God or something. It's all they know. We are at the point where these kids are about to be doing gay for pay stuff, then will say they are not gay, it's just a job. Rofl. Pretty funny/sad/terrible.
RGT
the answer to your headline is not a simple "yes" or no".
the answer is complicated. Are *item scalping* resellers being unethical and shady ruining retro game collecting? yes.
Are ETHICAL and fair resellers ruining retro game collecting? NO. It's the reslleres that * have a warehouse or storage unit FILLED with old consoles and games* (and have EBAY listings for common consoles and fairly common games and charging massively inflated prices on them) those kinds of shady, deceptive resellers in the US and in Japan are ruining retro game collecting.
Like a loose working NES is maybe worth $10 for example, but some "resellers" buy 20~30 NES consoles and are charging $55~$100 each on their Ebay shop or at Conventions or in their brick n mortar shops, it's the SHADY and greedy type of resellers that massively upcharge on games and console far beyond what they *should* be worth that are ruining retro game collecting. Sonic the hedgehog 1 or Super Mario Bros. are maybe worth $10, but many think it's ok to sell those games loose for $25~$35 to take advantage of the casual retro game collector/enthusiast.
These are the "DK Oldies" type of resellers, Retro game Resell SCALPERS. The small time, ethical resellers are NOT contributing to the inflation of prices to retro games. Azzholes like the owner of DK Oldies, the Game Grading gifters, the unethical... they are the one's ruining things. Not the small-time resellers that are being ethical and fair...
To me, the resellers aren't an issue, until they are... "I got into the vendor's hall a few hours early! Let's go hunting!" Gee.... Yeah, taking advantage much? Then of course they only get deals they do because they're famous. Due to this, I'm now a casual collector. If I pay anything, it'll be no more than $50 or $60 now, unless I can get a similar deal.
Very short answer, yes.
I remember going to the Salvation Army in 2002, you can get an NES, two controllers, the zapper, Mario Bros / Duck Hunt, and ten other games for $50 lol. I saw a Sega Saturn with Virtua Cop and gun for $30. If I had the money at the time, I would have bought it all.
Because of all the losers and scumbags, you could resell that Saturn for 500$ today. It's sick.
Trust me, not everyone welcomed resellers with open arms. There's a difference between resellers and people like Phoenix taking advantage of the videogame community. Let's not even get in on the scam of his app. Heckin Steve explains it well, bad behavior of resellers need to be called out
Greedy scumbags are always ruining something.
I haven't sold my collection, but the reseller shenanigans/sky high retro prices + emulation handhelds have all completely decimated my desire to acquire any more retro games.
They absolutely are. Trying to get back into Saturn collecting has been incredibly difficult because of the insane pricing.
i don't know why i waited so long to get into it but yeah the saturn market is crazy
Get a saitiator, it's not going to stop untill people stop paying the insane prices.
@@jeffrielly my saturn can play backups but there's just something to having those long boxes, being able to pull out and read the manual, there's a feel to it that i adore.
Also download and print the manuals. Buy some reproduction cases. It'll be significantly cheaper than trying to buy games that are going to rot within the next 20 years
Even japanese saturn game have become crazy expensive !!!
I got into collecting late so the sticker prices are not a total shock because it’s more or less what I’m use too. However some stores are definitely out of hand. Others don’t even put the good games they have on the shelf and sell those to Amazon ect. It is a rip off honestly; however one that many including myself will pay for even subconsciously and consciously knowing we are paying to much for old games.
That's what I did; went from having a $30k collection to selling it all and just having the consoles with everdrives. From there I got a steam deck and put everything up through ps2 on sd cards and it gives me the ability to game on the go now. For everything above that, or stuff that just doesn't emulate well, I just have modded consoles. Play more games now than I ever have. I do miss my awesome collection sometimes though.
Same. I sold a large chunk of my collection and was able to mod my consoles for ODEs and buy a few everdrives. I also bought a mini PC and filled it full of stuff. So I have a CRT setup and a huge emulation setup for my flat screen.
I miss a few of those games but I like my setup now.
Same, i once had a Boxed Nintendo 64 Collection of my most favorite games but when i heard the Everdrive would be out at some Time, i sold EVERYTHING and in the end i would still have every game to play and not having to shell out massive amounts of money to get what i want.
I’ve never bought any of these retro consoles from resellers as the prices were ridiculous and I found it quickly that emulation was the way to go.
Or flash cards if you still want to play on the actual hardware
My biggest concern is simply pricing getting out of hand. I want games to be as accessible as possible. Emulation is great, but its not always the answer.
Emulation is literally the only answer.
It's technically illegal unless you actually own the game physically.
It's the only answer.
@@aaronroberts8601 until it crashes *rolls eyes*
I've given up collecting games since covid. Even trying to buy new limited editions of games I like is a nightmare. Wish I could get up to speed with emulation, but don't know where to start. Great video!
Yes because even Nintendo switch games are getting over priced. I see bendy and the ink machine on Argos, for £20 pounds and was out of stock. Then I go on f'n eBay and it's selling between 50 and 70 opened, and it isn't even rare. It's nuts. I know your vid was about retro stuff more. But I'm seeing it all over the place right now with Nintendo switch stuff!
Because morons keep paying. Don't be a consumer
The problem is when people realize there is a market they manipulate said market. Like I have a game I want the value to go up in said game. Sell it to myself to a high value a few times. Then boom that’s the new value of said game because it sold for that amount previously.
I started getting gba games. The price is one thing, and it does make retro game buying annoying. The bit I can't stomach is the amount of fakes on ebay. I think I'm just going to play roms.
That's why I emulate everything now. I sold my collection last year and don't miss it at all.
cheaper to
Yes you do don’t lie
You will regret it
Deep down. Throwing away history for a quick buck is cheap and tells a lot about your character to be honest
@@paulkendrick4153 lol get off your high horse. These are toys! Emulating these is aperfectly valid way to experience these pieces of history
I tihnk the push toward digital collections has put into sharp focus the fact that one all physical media will be obsolete. So I doubt the sale and resale of video games will ever really die off, these are cultural artifacts at the end of the day, like it or not.
I don't really blame resellers... this was all inevitable with games / consoles getting older and becoming more rare. Value was always bound to increase and there are always people who are gonna take advantage of the market & inflate it if they can. It doesn't just happen with video games, it's everything vintage, vintage records, vintage clothes, collectibles etc.
Finally someone who is not a complete idiot. Agreed my man.
I'm a gamer, not a collector. I'm always in the process of getting new games, and getting rid of old ones. I do buy retro games, but only to play. If I'm not playing them, it's only a matter of time until I get rid of them. I've never seen the point in having shelves of games just sitting there unused.
I think the main problem is hype and fomo. During the pandemic people were looking into these games and of course with the stimulus money went and bought like crazy. Which inflated the market for everything.
With that being said, the values of all these games and consoles are staying up in price because sellers see the new market value set by the buyers from the pandemic. Then videos that have "top 10 games for (insert console here)" i personally think triggers fomo for certain people and then they proceed to buy at a high price which keeps the market high.
I dont think resellers are necessarily at fault here, to me its the people that fell into it without doing their research and due diligence. The need for instant gratification is also to blame but thats another story.
The hype is definitely a large factor. There are billions of dollars in video games these days. We have movies, esports, esports gambling, new/retro games. Those stimulus packages hurt the country as a whole pretty much any collectible shot up(tcg, games, coins, sneakers) along with vehicles, real estate.
Prices are gradually coming down to what will be a new baseline. People who can not imagine spending hundreds or thousands on games needed to find an entity to blame so they locked on to Grading companies, auction houses, and resellers. Sure everyone has a role but people fail to look at how large the hobby has grown. Looks at the content creators on CZcams, tiktok, instagram. The sheer number of conventions, swap meets, tournaments. So many people want to have these impressive, flashy, expensive collections but either don’t want to put in the work.
YES! Over $40 for games that game out over 20 YEARS AGO is ridiculous and these resellers have created the problem and are now making it worse! These games should be accessible and affordable, not so expensive that they end up costing as much as or more than current gen offerings!
Why should a product that is harder to get today be worth LESS than it was when it was readily available on retail shelves. No other hobby seems to have this backwards philosophy on value. Cards, Bennie Babies and even currency (old coins or dollar bills) only go up in value over time if it is desired. If the reseller's products have no value, no desirability they will sit on shelves forever until the asking price drops.
Absolutely! I find it hilarious when I go on eBay and something is listed as rare but there’s literally a hundred to choose from and all at extortionate prices of course!
Resellers definitely killed the mini console markets.
I run a pretty decent size retro store in SWFL. You'd be shocked at how many high-end collectors feast on store inventory when it comes to larger cost items. They want them in hand, they want them with a warranty (not the fear the eBay seller will push back), and they want to haggle with you. They want the Earthbound you have listed for 350 for 320. And that's a part of the fun.
As for the resellers, I think the small thing you missed was that during the pandemic these resellers like Caleb taught an entire audience how to earn extra income via a way they didn't initially know about. His videos started me on eBay, and then flea markets, and now a very successful store. That's likely why people were never up in arms about them.
Good video.
This is the best video you've made in a long time. I agree 1000% This needs to be a series, none of these resellers actually play games.
Thank you for making this video, walls of plastic cases with paper inserts and plastic discs or cartridges with labels on them going for hundreds or thousands of dollars is absolute lunacy. As you've stated there are way, way, way easier ways to enjoy gaming instead of hunting down pieces of plastic and paper to feel like you're more importantly than someone else who doesn't have the aforementioned. It's lunacy.
Nice a new video just in time for breakfast you're the best ! Love your videos
I hate to say it.. I do agree with you, about resellers especially on retro games and CZcams in general. About 20 years ago or more, that old video games used to be dirt cheap at flea markets, thrift stores, pawn shops and of course there's eBay back then but at the time they didn't really care how much those games go for or how much they've been sold if you have internet.
im currently trying to build my ds, 3ds and switch collection. so many games that I was looking at are $50-100+ which is crazy. also collecting low dollar ps3 and wii games.
Same
I love collecting for the Neo Geo. Still some of the most beautiful pixel art, huge cartridges, great artwork and very low volumes produced. It's both easy (small library) and hard to collect for (rarity+price). It's just as fun to play these games as they are to collect them. The market has gone insane for rarest games but... and I'm curious how long it will take for prices to drop. SNK is doing a nice job keeping the spirit alive but will have to see how things go in the future.
It's not fun to collect for Neo Geo, if you refer to the AES it got insane prices like 20K for Metal Slug or even worse examples. Those games that are cheap are some of the less desired titles like the KOF series Samurai Spirits 1 and 2 etc, they are just fillers. The real good stuff like Blazing Stars, Garou Mark Of The Wolves are sold to such saturated prices, you can get a good Rolex watch for that price. I still have my AES that i bought in the 90s with 23 games, but it's impossible to collect for it these days.
They're never going to be cheap. Buy console ports or just be a pirate
@@fillerbunnyninjashark271 I don't expect them to be cheap, they are just not worth the price anymore!
@@MysticGargoyle they were never worth the hundreds of dollars per cartridge
@@fillerbunnyninjashark271 Who said hundreds of dollars, most of them cost more than a months salary 🤣
All game resellers that have invested money in Paper Mario the thousand-year door. going to lose a lot of money this year. I still can't believe we're going to get a remake
Good
It's gotten out of hand in that a few huge players are controlling and manipulating price of the entire retro game market. These items all have a fixed supply that they keep scooping up more of and can then artificially push up the price of these old games.
Thanks for reminding me of the Korskarskys kinda enjoyed watching that trainwreck.
Hey, do what makes you happy. With that being said Phoenix Resale is total scum.
I actually find joy in watching these “Game Collectors” try and haggle people who know they’re resellers and they don’t get the deals they wanted…. JRPG Life is one that I get the most joy from I love it when people won’t go down on their prices…. Mainly because I saw them hustle a 12 year old kid on one of their videos for a Funtastic N64 and some games, they offered this kid $20 for the console and games all while having the $200 sold listing for just the console up and were bragging about it…. It’s people like that that I wish would have a flood or fire to just the game collection so they can feel the pain that I’m sure that kid who doesn’t have a job felt when he watched their video and saw them bragging about how they just hustled him
I feel people have wised up for Retro. When I first started hunting for nes , snes , genesis stuff. I found them all in garage sales , flea markets , thrift stores for almost nothing. People wanted to get rid. I will say 2014 ish , suddenly people are selling them at ebay prices. Looking at their phones seeing how much it's worth. Articles in 2015 , saying you're old game maybe be worth Thousands. Kinda ruined the hobby , also alot of people jumped on it around the same year.
Moving to something more modern , people buying limited run games , they aren't doing for collecting purposes , they just know limited supply , medium to high demand. They are scum but it's not illegal.
Just wait for Nintendo Switch 2 launch, It's going to be scalped like crazy.
Same with Bourbon… It got so bad here in Virginia that they had to change the rules because the scalpers (most of whom don’t even drink bourbon) where getting all the good stuff before it was even put on the shelf
Different folks, different strokes.. I don’t care for modern games nor do I like to need internet to play my games. I see my collection as a part of who I am. Physical and offline is what I like
I agree with you. The only ones really buy are casual gamers. But it does ruin the fun though of shopping at flea market. Swap meets and garage sales because everybody is selling them for too much money. Part of the thrill for me was just to buy a game for cheap, not with no thought of reselling it.
Retro Gaming Tube 85 - "I'm not a retro game channel" 😂
The resellers I hate are the ones that tell the sellers that they are collectors
Let me tell ya something brother RGT. You are the greatest Nintendo CZcamsr there is, there was and there ever will be😁
I don't really like the people who do the resale that are cutthroat on it but that is on a personal level. It's more of an annoyance to collectors than anything else. I mainly see things that contribute to raising prices takes advantage of younger generations who don't know about emulation.
This has been my dilemma for a long time. I've saved nearly every game I've ever bought with the collection being worth quite a lot at this point. I have a family that a large sum of money could make very happy. However, I struggle selling them at current prices, my gut tells me to find someone who genuinely loves games and have them take them.
It's the same thing I did with my comics some years ago. I listed them online and a kid showed up who was excited to look through them. I just kept handing comic after comic of my favorites because it made him happy.
Awesome great take on the topic ,,,so very well said
Phoenix Resale is trash 🗑️
I have many issues with resellers… but the main one that bothers me is the “big ones” listing on Amazon. That’s the part I cannot forgive.
We were due for the Retro Gaming CZcamsr to make a return
I mean it’s gotten crazy in all hobbies, music, cards, & collectibles. It’s why I got what I want and sold the rest for a lot of hobbies and play them via other avenues.
I see some of the problem of high prices due to resellers. I know people have to make a buck but I come from an era in time where if you see a price you don’t like, walk. nobody likes a haggler;especially one that constantly begs. I doubt any reseller would give a deal like the one’s they try to get at 50%off.
You're right. They only want to pay 40 percent of the market value, if that, they would never sell anything to someone for the prices that they pay because they are too damn greedy and cheap.
BRUH, I was legit waiting to watch this video and be like, "here we go another idiots take on video game collecting and reselling." This is by far the best video I've seen on the subject. People need to stop crying over everything! If you don't want to pay X amount of dollars for a game cuz you think it's worth less, then DONT BUY IT! Customers/Buyers control the market. Don't like the price? Then get a different game.
I started to see the prices going up, so I made sure before they did I picked up a few of the physical handheld consoles I wanted and the handful of physical carts I used to have. To actually play, I swapped over to the handheld emulation route.
Ive been saying for years the consumers have accountability as well. you dee and others have pointed out what we do. I dont hide it I've scalped before its part of the reselling game. End of the day everyone just out trying to make a living. Customers if they don't wanna pay the full price like you said should just emulate everything they want to play thats expensive. if all consumers stopped paying up the prices would drop. Love your videos as always maybe one day ill join the hulk hogan collectors club too lol he lives by me up in Clearwater. Sometimes if you go to his shop at the beach you'll see him or his son there.
Man shut up. Get a REAL job.
You just watched one of the Best Nintendo CZcamsrs on CZcams.
The king of that community
@@Mifuneerasmus
100%
A hot game , a true reseller will sale the cart, the box, the manual separately.
Yes and it’s sad
I’m one of the few that still collects games to actually collect games…working towards sets or genres.
I’m more of a shelf collector but do play some of the games. I’ve been collecting for roughly 15 years now and my collection is crazy big (approaching 4,000 games (nothing modern) + 140 systems and handhelds) but it’s still fun to me. I still like to hunt and find stuff or trade for stuff.
I’m still buying stuff all the time. I would never sell my stuff…don’t need the money…but it’s a really…really…nice nest egg if I ever do.
Theres a difference between reselling, and Scalping.
Not really
@@LuisPerez-5Yes Really
i agree and disagree with a fair amount, cause what is a "reseller" can change depending on what each person says , cause you can sell a game of yours you happen to buy for cheaper then worth to get a more desired game and in the terms you gave then you are a reseller, also i think resellers are more good then bad, they give a value to a game more then if there was non here, and i do think having your games have a bigger value then $1 is part of why people love collecting. people without thinking about it want goals to achieve, you want to work towards collecting that desirable high $ game and getting them one day, if no resellers games wont have a real high value now you can really just collect every game u want for a $1 and there is no goal or real accomplishment and u have a ton of games in 1 day,
i personally have seen and know adding value $ wise to items makes them more desirable, more wanted. and thats part of the fun in collecting, trying to get that hard to get desirable piece.
also i dont think someone who flips a game for its worth to collect an item they want instead is really a true reseller, id say a reseller is really just someone who strictly does not collect anything in that area, and only buys to sell, and even that i see no issue with cause 1.) you want your collection to have value for the one day u may offload it for a new hobby, and 2.) if someone agrees to sell to them lower and they simply just list for its true value and make money thats ok, i think alot of people try to gate hold alot of hobbies nowadays cause they were "in it first" and they want all those super cheap prices and all that, but i think more people the more fun it is to connect and meet people in that hobby, if its a dead hobby and no one collect something, then ya cool you can get everything for under a $1 but then noone's there to share with or meet to do so lol.
Scalpers definitely ruined it. I bought my copy of Snatcher for $100 off eBay in 2006. Can't tell you the last time I've actually played that game on original hardware, but will likely never sell it. That one's a bit too significant and near & dear to me. Unfortunately, I still have this gene in me that wants the physical copies. Given the asinine prices now, though... and as 5th & 6th gens become easier and simpler to emulate, I'll likely be going that route myself. But when I truly enjoy a game, I still want the physical copy. But with modern games especially, physical copies are practically pointless, so it won't be an issue soon enough, going forward.
Lol yea especially when the stimulus checks came around and everyone was hoarding GPU's for Bitcoin 😅
Resellers and "special editions" almost killed comic books in the 90s
What’s a good asking price for a copy of Super Mario 3D collection? I have one and want to get rid of it since I emulate them on my Xbox.
I personally don't have much time to physically hunt for games (family obligations) but resellers have the time and resources to find things I probably would not be able to find on my own. In my own case, I also collect games and peripherals for my Japanese computer systems and without international resources like eBay, Yahoo Auctions JP it definitely would have made it much harder to find things. The prices can be difficult at times but it's a double edged sword. I think most collecting / collectible hobbies have to (or eventually will) contend with supply / demand and all the drama that entails.
I collect video games, Modern and retro BMX bikes and many other things.
In all hobbies, you have people that are a form of scalper. Buying up all of the new low numbered items just to control the secondary market for their personal financial gain.
At the end of the day, you cannot put energy into those things from those people that you cannot control...... Just simply get the things that you can at reasonable prices and enjoy them for what they are.
Honestly i think its the perfect storm of youtube and ebay that made all nostalgia things go to rediculous prices
I still like collecting physical retro games, it is not the cheapest hobby but I generally buy from retro game stores. A lot opened up in my areas post COVID times and I pretty much stopped using eBay or Amazon all together and realized I was paying to much usually on Amazon.
What mustache wax do you recommend, RGT?
The beanie baby comparison is an apt one. It isnt desirable games driving this market, its market manipulation. Its video game resellers hording games to artificially create scarcity to increase the value of what they hold. This is always the problem with collectibles as speculative assets
I feel like people were more upset because of who you sold your collection too, that dude is complete scum. He had his viewers help him send GameCube games to help him complete his collection because it was his childhood dream, a few months later once he completed his collection he sells it all.
Resellers: "I'm only interested if I'm making money off it."
So…. I have been using ZSNES for emulation since 1995 😐I can use it for controllers and keep in mind I don’t think ZSNES has been updated in twenty years
As someone from Kentucky, our gamestores were so good before Phionex popped up. I remember I was able to buy so many games that were hard to find but now its impossible. I live in Mexico now and am the problem that he was in Kentucky so I get it. I don't resale but it definitely has ruined game collecting.
These days if you just want to play retro on original hardware and not worry about the collectors aspect, invest in multi-carts or everdrives.
Very gray area. I guess whether its scummy or not depends on each individual circumstance. For me, reselling games subsidizes my game collecting. I find cheap games, meet them or go to their house, buy them, keep what i want, then sell the rest for 50-70% of market value. My thought is if they list it for a price and i do the leg work to go retrieve it, then resell it for discounted price, my moral compass is clear. I make a bit of cash and someone gets a game for under market price. All three parties benefit from the transactions.
I have a small ps3 collection roughly 40 games I’ve had for years outside like 5 that I picked up just the last couple of months and I like what I got
This is why emulation is so great. Many hobbies get overprices because of resellers. Similar to car collecting.
If I ever sell my collection, it will be to someone that cares about the games...not some reseller that just cares about money. Resellers are ruining the hobby. Any deals that are out there are snapped up. The thrill of the hunt is on life support and resellers are standing by waiting to pull the plug. Resellers bring nothing good to the table....higher prices...less games to find...no interest in the hobby. They are leeches that want to suck the excitement out of everything they touch.
When I used to collect Hot Wheels, resellers were trying to ruin that hobby for me and I gave them what they deserved. I began buying boxes of Hot Wheels from Toys R Us, sold them at cost, and undercut their sorry a$$es. They tried to buy me out but couldn't because I had enough stock in the end to open a store. Finally they gave up and left the flea market where they had been fleecing collectors and kids alike. To this day, I still look back on that time as the best part of collecting die-cast cars. I got to pull a few cars for myself and save kids and collectors money. 😊
I would love to see more reprints of lots of these games. Brand new official copies of sought-after retro games on disk and cartridge. It works for movies and music albums. Flood the market and drive the value of these old copies down. The original developer isn't seeing a penny of the resold games anyway, so the only ones who would be hurt are the resellers.
I would love to complete my Xenosaga trilogy, but I'm not paying some reseller $250 for Xenosaga III.
You wish others demise for your gain. Their current gain is your demise. Who is the bad guy? Samezies bro 😬🫣
I was just talking to my friends about this yesterday...😮
Your reseller defense has plot holes and bias from selling to one but I like your reference to EarthBound. It sat on unsold on store shelves FOR YEARS and the slightly over 100k sales figure was shortly after release. It's a common game. For sure 200k or 300k. Was $35 loose 20 years ago before the hype train arrived.
My favorite Mustached Nintendo CZcamsr back with another banger 🔥
I've been a game dealer off and on for about a decade. In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with game collecting, but I don't see the logic in people just buying games to throw them on a shelf and never actually play them again. I did build up a collection of original XBOX games over the years, but its for the simple fact I play the games frequently, and I'm not just buying them to stare at a game case on the wall. People really should consider just buying the games you really enjoy, rather than just buying to collect, and you dont have the break the bank to do it.
There is some greed from game dealers too. Some will jack up prices to extreme levels anytime they think they can get away with it. Being a game dealer is not an easy job either. It takes an enormous amount of time and energy to list, sell, as well as manage inventory and bookkeeping. Then you have people constantly trying to rip you off, while having to deal with draconian policies from platform's like ebay.
Question for you RGT 85 what is your take on digital gaming the fact that you buy these games and you don’t actually own it vs a physical copy ?
It’s not about fun it’s about money and that’s the problem, I’d rather pirate
I'm buying from collectors to expand my collection. I usually buy at Midwest Gaming Classic once a year for the systems I collect for.
Or, I trade with fellow collectors.