Is retro game prices really as insane as eBay is making it look?

[Mr Jones]

So to start off, I'm kind of an odd gamer. Most of my friends back in he day were SNES gamers, while I played the Genesis. Many of my friends were knee deep in Playstation games while I played Neo Geo and Saturn. Playstation 2? Nah, Dreamcast.

But my point isn't to say that I liked to be contrarian, just the kind of games that I liked to go after. I still tend to like retro games, and have been trying to finish getting a few games that I wanted back when I had time and no money, and now I have money and no time. And this is where I am having a dilemma:

HOLY CRAP retro games are EXPENSIVE.

I mean STUPID expensive. Lemme give a couple examples.

I'm trying to go after a Genesis game called Crusader of Centy.

Take a look at these:

Mortgage Payment #1
Mortgage Payment #2

Think those are crazy? There was a game that I owned called Pulstar for the Neo Geo. I sold it back in the day, and now I kinda want to get it back. I knew that this was going to be a lot. But I didn't know that it was going to be THIS much.

Vacation Trip #1
Vacation Trip #2

And we won't even get started on Arcade cabinets...

Your first car

I don't know how y'all can start collecting these older games if you didn't start way back in the late 90s - early 00s. That's just insane money...

 

[nsilvias]

pandemic pricing has been going out of control. most games arent that bad tho

 

[Sectorseven]

What are the actual sold prices for items like those?

 

[Deleted member 10629]

You'll be better off going 'hunting' on your city for games. There's always pawn shops and mom and pop stores that sell good stuff.

 

[Faceless_Caesar]

You picked one of the most expensive games in the Genesis catalog to go after. Retro prices are pretty high depending on the platform but Crusader of Centy is an outlier in that respect.

 

[Deleted member 21709]

Maybe if you didn't spend so much on vacations you'd be able to afford Pulstar!!

Prices are pretty high though - doubly so for me as I only buy new/sealed.

 

[Snake__]

Always look at sold listings on eBay
Listing prices for unsold items mean nothing

 

[rpm]

Some retro games are. Some aren't. Crusader of Centy is the third and fourth (two different variants) most expensive game on the Gensis, and Pulstar is the seventh most expensive game on the Neo Geo (an already expensive platform), according to pricecharting.com.

 

[Decarbia]

lmao. You don't know the half of it. I'm a hardcore Neo Geo collector and my most valued game is Neo Turf Masters. I paid about $600 for it over a decade ago.

Here's what it goes for now

 

[Mullet2000]

You have to look at sold listings to get a sense of the market price. Not just any posted listings.

That said yes prices have been going up over the last year.

 

[joe1138]

Yes.

I stopped by Pink Gorilla games in Seattle during a road trip last summer and saw Magic Knight Rayearth going for about $1000. Had a chance to pick that game up for around $350 prior to the pandemic.

 

[ScatheZombie]

As someone who managed a store that bought/sold/traded retro games, check here first.

You can see the pandemic bubble in action. Last year, Crusader of Centy was going for under $600 complete. It's now double that or more.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

A big part of it is the pandemic. Anything like this that was already expensive is now 10x more expensive. Trading cards are exactly the same.

 

[RomanticHeroX]

Retro games, like all other collectables, have blown up during Covid. Price Tracking is a good resource to check for prices since it tracks actual sales, and according to them the Crusader of Centy prices are about right. Prices may adjust downwards, but things like NES and SNES games and fragile Saturn cases mean there are fewer and fewer complete, good condition copies available as time goes on.

 

[asmith906]

Yes, retro game prices started spiking last year at the beginning of lockdown.

Of course AES games have always been stupid.

I had no idea Crusaders was that high. I bought a lot of games on ebay and it came with a repro of it.

 

[TheChrisGlass]

Turns out, with me not going to theme parks or any other vacations, I have a LOT of spare income to blow on video games.

 

[Deleted member 2620]

it is, yeah.

it's a good thing these games are, for the most part, made accessible through efforts outside of their publisher

 

[Mr Jones]

You'll be better off going 'hunting' on your city for games. There's always pawn shops and mom and pop stores that sell good stuff.

Click to shrink...

I'm in my 40s. I have seen Neo Geo games in a pawn shop exactly 1 time. And I bought what I found.

You picked one of the most expensive games in the Genesis catalog to go after. Retro prices are pretty high depending on the platform but Crusader of Centy is an outlier in that respect.

Click to shrink...

This is true. But I could never find it back in the day, either. Feels bad, man.

Maybe if you didn't spend so much on vacations you'd be able to afford Pulstar!!

Prices are pretty high though - doubly so for me as I only buy new/sealed.

Click to shrink...

Help me with my finances my family is starving.

Also, if you're looking for Nintendo games sealed, DM me. I might have something up your alley. Please support my retro collecting habit.

 

[The Lord of Cereal]

They're definitely pretty bad, but not nearly as bad as that. Just find local estate sales, thrift stores and retro game stores and you'll get amazing deals on retro stuff. Then again I have been pretty lucky in that there's a retro game store not far from me that I'm like 90% sure is a money laundering front based on the prices of items (things are ridiculously cheap, like working Dreamcast with controller and a game for $40 cheap) so I am definitely biased here. I just hope they're still open when things are safe again

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Crusader of Centy is probably the single most valuable Mega Drive/Genesis cartridge out there (only counting actual released games, not prototypes, one of a kind prints etc); kind of a bit of an unfair point of reference for other games.

Also, that listing is for complete in box. Cartridge Only auctions are much cheaper (though still outrageous mind you!).

Crusader of Centy (Sega Genesis, 1994) Authentic - Partial Box - SEE PICS | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Crusader of Centy (Sega Genesis, 1994) Authentic - Partial Box - SEE PICS at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Crusader of Centy AUTHENTIC GAME CARTRIDGE ONLY Sega Genesis ~ Atlus Action RPG | eBay

Tested & working!

www.ebay.com

Always look at sold listings on eBay
Listing prices for unsold items mean nothing

Click to shrink...

While I of course agree with this sentiment, Crusader of Centy really does go for this kind of price on average when complete; unbelievably enough!

Here are some completed listings for Complete In Box auctions...

Crusader of Centy (Sega Genesis, 1994) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Crusader of Centy (Sega Genesis, 1994) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

RARE - Crusader of Centy (Sega Genesis, 1994) CIB Complete in Box | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for RARE - Crusader of Centy (Sega Genesis, 1994) CIB Complete in Box at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Crusader of Centy Sega Genesis CIB Holy Grail 100% Authentic | eBay

Crusader of Centy for the Sega Genesis. This is it, the copy that you've been looking for! The pictures say it all.

www.ebay.com

*** SEGA GENESIS GRAIL - CRUSADER OF CENTY CIB 100% AUTHENTIC *** | eBay

THIS IS NOT A REPRODUCTION. insert is good. A couple of creases and small tears exist, but they don't impact the integrity of the insert. You can see details in photos. Manual is very good.

www.ebay.com

Crusader of Centy (Sega Genesis, 1994) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Crusader of Centy (Sega Genesis, 1994) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[entremet]

This guy is based in the GTA area I believe and has built most of his collection via garage sales. He also funds his hobby by flipping duplicates.

He says it's harder today, but he still does this it.

So not impossible, just time consuming lol.

 

[Obi Wan Jabroni]

What are the actual sold prices for items like those?

Click to shrink...

This is the key question to ask.

Lots of people post shit on eBay at ridiculous prices that never move.

 

[Damaniel]

Yes.

I stopped by Pink Gorilla games in Seattle during a road trip last summer and saw Magic Knight Rayearth going for about $1000. Had a chance to pick that game up for around $350 prior to the pandemic.

Click to shrink...

I bought my copy for something like $80 15 years ago and regretted it a bit because I thought I overpaid. Sadly, I don't have it anymore.

The crazy increase in the price of retro games is why I stopped collecting in the first place. Paying stupidly high prices just to fill in spots on a shelf makes no sense, and once I started finding it more convenient to emulate everything there wasn't really much of a point in picking games up just to complete a collection. I have about 2000 games in my collection, but haven't added anything that isn't a current/last gen game to it in nearly 5 years. I've sold more games in the last 7 or 8 years than I've bought - games that I probably made about $2k for but would be worth closer to $10k now. If they ever reopen the Portland Retro Gaming Expo, I'm probably just going to rent a booth and sell off as much as I can.

 

[RedOnePunch]

You should check the price for Neo Turf Masters on the NeoGeo AES.

NeoStore.com - Neo Turf Masters English AES

SNK original Neo-Geo home cartridge, one of the rarest English titles.

www.neostore.com

It's going for more nowadays

 

[SolVanderlyn]

lmao. You don't know the half of it. I'm a hardcore Neo Geo collector and my most valued game is Neo Turf Masters. I paid about $600 for it over a decade ago.

Here's what it goes for now

Click to shrink...

WTF

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Edit: Ahh, fuck! They're MVS to AES conversions! Never mind!

 

[killuglypop]

More people are clued up on what's rare and expensive. It's getting next to impossible/very rare finding good stuff in the wild. Thanks instagram.

Neo Geo prices are to be expected but the biggest jump since the start of the pandemic for me is still Pokemon cards. That's really insane

 

[t26]

What are the actual sold prices for items like those?

Click to shrink...

Crusader of Centy (Sega Genesis, 1994) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Crusader of Centy (Sega Genesis, 1994) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[awake4ages]

Neo Turf Masters AES isn't worth anything close to that much; that's just one idiot seller who thinks he can get away with ripping you off...

... average prices for the AES version appear to hover between $350-500

Neo turf masters/neo geo aes/convert nci/usa version/brand new | eBay

Convert neuve par nci / atomik wave. Neo Turf Masters.

www.ebay.com

Neo Turf Masters/Big Tournament Golf AES • Neo Geo NGH System/Console SNK Sports | eBay

(We've been working with the Neo Geo System for many years. Rest assured, this product will satisfy your SNK needs :). This is one of the must-have titles for the platform! Item is in PERFECTLY WORKING ORDER!

www.ebay.com

Neo Turf Masters/Big Tournament Golf AES • Neo Geo NGH System/Console SNK Sports | eBay

(We've been working with the Neo Geo System for many years. Rest assured, this product will satisfy your SNK needs :). This is one of the must-have titles for the platform! Item is in PERFECTLY WORKING ORDER!

www.ebay.com

The MVS version is, of course, much more affordable (but anyone who is into NeoGeo collecting would be able to tell you that anyway).

Click to shrink...

These are reproductions

 

[lampeater]

As others have noted, it's useful to look at the graph on Price Charting. For the games I've been looking for, there's a noticeable spike kicking in around late spring-early summer 2020, when the quarantines kicked in for a lot of us. I'm still hoping for prices to return to the Before Times, and it seems to be heading back down from what I can tell but slowly. Still, it's causing me to reconsidering bothering at all or pulling a Marie Kondo.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

These are reproductions

Click to shrink...

Only just realised that they're bootlegs. You beat my ninja edit!

Either way, NeoGeo carts are a unique beast; not exactly representitive of other retro consoles.

 

[xir]

supply demand, way more people entering the market via exposure and just aging up.
Akihabra getting shaked down should have been a sign.
As a 40 year old who dipped into atari 2600 collecting in the mid 90s, I should have invested more!
Also, ebay...not all that is listed gets sold...I like to look at pricecharting and click through to see if things actually sold at the prices you see.
Also, if you want the game, reproduction carts are widlyl available for s alot stuff and should paly 99.9999999% the same on hardware

 

[Nabbit]

I was glad to see the Japanese version of Crusader of Centy is much less pricy at least. Once my Japanese gets good enough I'd like to play it.

 

[entremet]

You should check the price for Neo Turf Masters on the NeoGeo AES.

NeoStore.com - Neo Turf Masters English AES

SNK original Neo-Geo home cartridge, one of the rarest English titles.

www.neostore.com

It's going for more nowadays

Click to shrink...

If I only had a time machine.

I know I could say the same about Apple stock, but I actually followed gaming back then. Not the stock market lol.

 

[Mr Jones]

I sold my 80% complete US Saturn collection back in the early 2000s. I don't miss it, but man I could have sold it for a LOT more money today.

But I regret selling Pulstar. Thing is, you really can't even buy it anymore. Folks ask "well how much has it sold for on eBay?" Thing is, the history is murky, because many of the games that sold are repros. No one WANTS to spend 3000+ US dollars on a game, so they buy a repro, which plays just the same. Only thing you miss is a manual. And now I'm seeing reproductions come complete with manuals. So you don't even know if the game you buy is legit, unless you do some detective work.

 

[Deleted member 51848]

Yep it's crazy. I am selling a couple of my old micro vs system games and a table top tron grandstand. I've just set them to auction because I have no idea of value and the view / watch count is mental.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

supply demand, way more people entering the market via exposure and just aging up.
Akihabra getting shaked down should have been a sign.
As a 40 year old who dipped into atari 2600 collecting in the mid 90s, I should have invested more!
Also, ebay...not all that is listed gets sold...I like to look at pricecharting and click through to see if things actually sold at the prices you see.
Also, if you want the game, reproduction carts are widlyl available for s alot stuff and should paly 99.9999999% the same on hardware

Click to shrink...

If you're doing that though, there's no real difference between that and stealing a ROM online.

Presumably, anyone who is actually interested in buying and playing retro games on original hardware will want original, non-bootleg copies. Otherwise, you might as well just either steal all your games and play them via emulator or flashcart; or obtain them from modern re-releases on PC/newer consoles (and yes, I am aware that 99% of people just nick their games for any console older than PS3 or 360).

"Reproduction cartridges" are nothing more than bootlegs. They are a blight on anyone who is actually trying to buy real copies of retro games! If you're gonna steal your games, don't make it harder for people trying to buy legit at least!

 

[awake4ages]

Centy is possibly the single most valuable retail Genesis game at this point so I don't think it's the best example. It's like selecting Earthbound as a SNES example. The market has been trending upward for some time but there are still plenty of affordable titles to build a solid console library around. There's also flashcart and reproduction options for people who are into them.

 

[Curler]

Yes.

I stopped by Pink Gorilla games in Seattle during a road trip last summer and saw Magic Knight Rayearth going for about $1000. Had a chance to pick that game up for around $350 prior to the pandemic.

Click to shrink...

Ugh, it's one of my most wanted games since I used to be really big in the anime/manga. I remember just over a decade ago, I started getting Saturn games but was going cheap, and this one was sloooowly climbing to over $100, which I figured was "too much, I can prob find under". I remember I had the chance to do a BIN for $85 once, too.... Then during PRGE 2019, it was around $400ish and now... Well, would be nice to see it affordable one day, because I actually want the original (non-repro/rom) and to play it some time :/

 

[entremet]

I honestly think the biggest boon to the retro market outside of the pandemic--Youtube.

Folks see these massive Youtube game rooms, and it tickles their nostalgia. Moreover, these people are also entering their most economically productive years.

Our fathers may have toyed with restoring cars, model trains, home brewing beer. Our generation is buying retro games.

 

[Ultima_5]

You'll be better off going 'hunting' on your city for games. There's always pawn shops and mom and pop stores that sell good stuff.

Click to shrink...

that hasn't worked for me in years. those places are smart enough to check online prices now.

 

[Strat]

Yes, retro game prices are stupid. No, they aren't all that totally bananas. The general price for a lot of the most popular stuff has steadily risen at a kind of absurd pace for the last 5+ years though, because it seems like, from my experience anyways, there are a lot more speculators getting into the market now, thanks to some of the big number game sales in the last several years being highly publicized.

The pandemic also launched a lot of the more popular regular priced games to another level. I made a lot of money hustling Animal Crossing amiibo cards when that market exploded, and used it to pick up stuff I had been wanting for awhile, but had a hard time justifying for one reason or another, only to see some of them nearly double in price once the pandemic really set-in. As an example, I picked up Pokemon XD for the GameCube for $50CDN in March, already a decent deal as it was trending around $70-$80 at the time, but I've seen it regularly going for well over $100CDN several times since and the app I use currently has it listed as averaging out to about $159CDN, based on sold listings.

 

[empo]

I kinda fell off retro gaming last year but I usually go for loose carts but Centy is still $400 lmao
sold most of my stuff over the years but started rebuying some cheap stuff but I just can't justify several hundreds of dollars for one game

 

[EllipsisBreak]

Not quite. Unpaid asking prices are not actual value. Always use the advanced search to see sold listings, to find out what something is actually worth.

 

[Conscience]

Not exactly "retro" but trying to buy any of the DS Pokemon games outside of Diamond and Pearl is hilariously expensive considering how recent they are.

 

[drtomoe123]

Everything blew up considerably after the first stimulus checks in the US... I made about $13,000 selling around 300 games on eBay last year. Not by flipping or doing a business, but just by narrowing down my personal collection and trimming the fat...a lot of those were $10 DS/PS2 games but there were quite a few heavy hitters mixed in.

I definitely appreciated the extra income in 2020 and might try to sell a bit more this year in order to get my collection to a sweet spot...

 

[superNESjoe]

Prices have been pretty out of control for a while, but to be fair you picked a couple of very rare and valuable games. They don't reflect the average prices of most games on popular retro platforms from NES to PS1.

 

[xir]

If you're doing that though, there's no real difference between that and stealing a ROM online.

Presumably, anyone who is actually interested in buying and playing retro games on original hardware will want original, non-bootleg copies. Otherwise, you might as well just either steal all your games and play them via emulator or flashcart; or obtain them from modern re-releases on PC/newer consoles (and yes, I am aware that 99% of people just nick their games for any console older than PS3 or 360).

"Reproduction cartridges" are nothing more than bootlegs. They are a blight on anyone who is actually trying to buy real copies of retro games! If you're gonna steal your games, don't make it harder for people trying to buy legit at least!

Click to shrink...

i'd say there's a grey market for older games with no viable path for modern ownership. and of course I don't condone piracy. Also "Presumably, anyone who is actually interested in buying and playing retro games on original hardware will want original, non-bootleg copies." is presuming a lot! For sure make them distinguishable versus the real thing, that's super troublesome, I've seen the fake pokemon games etc, but there's a reason art prints of famous paintings are sold, etc vs. a flash cart. Plus, some games get translated and that's a way to play them on og hardware.

 

[Curler]

Not exactly "retro" but trying to buy any of the DS Pokemon games outside of Diamond and Pearl is hilariously expensive considering how recent they are.

Click to shrink...

HeartGold and SoulSilver have been rare/pricey ever since they stopped production. They've never not been in demand and I'm still surprised that Nintendo just didn't print a non Pokewalker version of the game.

 

[Molto]

Holy shit, Centy was around the $100 range CIB before pandemic IIRC!

The other examples though, I feel like are pretty standard. AES has been crazy expensive since forever, and arcade cabs usually go for over $2k don't they?