As a buyer and seller of retro games and hardware, I can’t help but notice the upward trend in prices of late. I have purchased some fantastic bargains over the years from various sources such as car boot sales, jumble sales, charity shops and ebay. Whereas a few years back I could browse my local car boot sale or jumble sale and could buy a ZX Spectrum with a box of games thrown in for a £5 note, now I’d be lucky to even see a ZX Spectrum let alone pay less than £20 for it. The prices on ebay have soared and its almost impossible to bag a bargain there any longer and even charity shops seem to have cottoned on and now charge retail prices for their retro gaming stock. There are exceptions to this rule of course, with car boot stall holders still practically begging you to take away their Nintendo 64 for a pittance.
It got me thinking as to why retro gaming should be getting more expensive and I came up with the following possibilities:
Education
People are just too aware that the computer or console in the loft is worth some money nowadays. We can thank magazines like Retro Gamer for that. Not that I’m against a magazine dedicated to our beloved pastime, (I’ve even advertised within it’s pages in the past). No, I’m just concluding that it’s pages are spreading the potential worth of retro consoles and games to a previously disinterested group of people who now see that ‘theres gold in them there hills’. Consequently they use the often inflated (and misguided) price guides these magazines publish or hold on to their retro goodies as a future investment and put them back in the loft.
Increased Interest
More people wanting stuff drives the price up. Simple economics may be part of the answer and the mere fact that our pastime is becoming more popular is making it more expensive too. Maybe the Credit Crunch is now fueling this and people that are baulking at buying that latest £40 Xbox game have now turned to good old retro gaming as a cheaper alternative. Again, magazines could play a part and their exposure of our hobby could be attracting otherwise disinterested parties to the potential money making aspect of their loft finds.
I wonder if it also has to do with the rise overall in collectibles pricing. I have a new client who is in the coin and collectibles business and he said his business is exploding because people are choosing to invest in those areas rather than the stock or bond market. He says it is also becoming a popular way for people to hide from inheritance taxes.
It is true, I RARELY, pay full price for a game or console, and the garage sale thrift store buys at a fraction of actual value are becoming more scarce everyday. I am sick of pawn shops, thrift stores selling $2-$3 NES commons for $5.99 each, sure maybe one of them is worth more but most are not. Too lazy to look up actual values.
When the new retro nes remake comes out old skool gaming will rise people will be lloking for snes n64s etc hence the prices will fly up.