What is a collection worth?

This year was the time to start cleaning out the 'stuff' that has been carried around for multiple moves, stored in boxes in lockers, closets and under beds.

The associate of value to a collection has been hard to put into context. The value of a game should be enjoyment that is produced by it. Does a game still have value sitting unused in it's original shrink wrap in boxes stored in a cool dry place?

I've decided that for me it does not, so I became a hypocrite on the 'used games' debate and decided to sell off nearly all my physical games. I comforted the hypocrisy with the fact that most of the titles are not for sale new anywhere. A bout a hundred were listed on Amazon to sell, but this pile of games was not so lucky.

A dozen or so are still sealed in original wrapping with price tags from number shops, some dated back more than a decade ago. I have played about half of them, finished almost none of them. The games, have no physical value, $0.01 to at best $5 not worth the cost of shipping supplies and time to package.

To the posters here that have large spacious collections of games, I ask:

"Why do you hold on to them?"

"Do you keep ones you have absolutely no intention of every playing again?"

I have a relatively large collection of games dating back to the NES era, all with still working consoles. Most of them that are not part of the current generation are in boxes, however I do not have any plans to be rid of them. I hold on to them for reasons of when I eventually get my own house I can put them on display, and I also go back and play a good chunk of them from time to time. Being a part of game development I enjoy owning a part of history of stuff that I enjoy and I am invested in.

Ebay

About three-fifty

I recently disposed of all my console games that are available on Steam. I never play them, and if I ever want to play, say, Bionic Commando again, I'll just grab a digital copy for $10. I took them to Gamestop and got maybe $100 for them- all of my PS2 games actually sold better on eBay though, as I was obsessive about black-label copies in good condition, and people still like that stuff.

@salarn said:

Yes I keep every title I've ever owned. That being said I've bought a large bookcase to store them in an organized and neat fashion. I do occasionally play the ancient stuff. I admit it's somewhat comforting to know I can do so at any time I want to theoretically, battery packs permitting.

Why do I keep them? Same reason I keep anything I guess. Because I want to and can afford to. I like collecting things in real life just like I do in games. I also keep books too.

Plus as you pointed out there's little money to be had selling them so all I'd really get back is more space, which for me is not a problem currently. Perhaps if that changes I'll change my mind.

We are moving in a direction that physical media is becoming obsolete rather quickly so perhaps I'll eventually go digital only. But I don't see a good way financially or way I trust enough to do that yet. And plus I like the look of a full bookcase more than bare wall.

p.s. You should not feel bad about selling those games. Those were your items and you are well within your rights to sell them no matter what the game companies say.

I hold on to them because I may feel the desire to replay them. Unlike a lot of people here I still love physical media and take joy from seeing all my games neatly organized on a shelf. That said I do not hold on to games I have no intention of ever playing again. The problem with that is selling a game and wanting to play it again despite thinking I would never want to, but that's the risk I take in order to keep my collection from getting cluttered.

You probably wouldn't get too much considering it's all older stuff. But if you're strapped for cash or space, I'd throw it on craigslist or Ebay for like $30-$40. If it doesn't sell for awhile knock the price down. Maybe take the current-gen stuff and take it to Gamestop and buy a Steam gift card with the trade-in credit.

@epicsteve: @damisterchief:

I found amazon.ca to be better for selling them, just less of a hassle than ebay, but isn't all about the money or cash value. For reference, these are the ones that are still up for sale that are worth more than $15, about 30 have sold so far ~$500 after fees which is nice but wasn't the goal.

I just looked at the games on the shelves and went 'eeegh' it was the same feeling I had when I got my first apartment and in the beginning it looked like a dorm room with movie/game/anime posters and a few months in I just had to reassess the worth of my possessions.

@korkesh: @slag: @ezakael:I did the display in my house setup for a while also, and it took up a lot of space, basically had an entire room dedicated to storing games. Still have the house although I'm renting in Canada now, ended up carting all of these games up across the boarder and now eighteen months I realized they were still in boxes untouched.

I've not gone through my cartridge games yet, probably going to be harder to separate than the disk games since the cartridges were the games of my formative years. There are a few that made it past the first cut mainly ones that I really need to finish, are unique to me, or ones that I've worked on.

Thanks for the feedback.

@salarn: no problem. From what you said I'm going to guess your collection was much larger than mine fwiw . I have one 4' x 8' bookcase which holds 95% of what I own, certainly not a whole room's worth. I could see why losing a whole room to them created more of an issue for you.

Sounds like you did what's right for you.