The Nintendo Cartridge Market in General

[DonSilvestre]

Is it just me, or are the prices for NES and SNES carts suddenly skyrocketing? The current Earthbound thread seems to indicate that most people (including myself) had no idea the price for Earthbound had jumped considerably in the last year. Looking at some of my other rare games like Snow Bros. for NES - the same thing is true. A year ago Snow Bros. was fetching a healthy $50 - $60 bucks, now it's going for $75 - $125 on ebay, with none listed below $100 on Amazon.

Even many common games like Super Mario Kart, Contra 3, Super Castlevania IV, etc, are consistently going in the $20 range. I know all of those are high demand titles, despite the high supply, but I wonder if this trend is going to continue, or if it will all come crashing down soon. It's awfully hard to resist selling my EarthBound cart when I can get $150 for it. The problem would be knowing I'd likely never own it again...

[AppleQueso]

I think the collector market has just grown. More buyer competition, etc.

That or it might just be plain ol' price gouging.

I'd blame highly publicized auctions like that Stadium Events one either way.

[KDub]

eBay has become price gouge city due to the ease of use. More collectors, easy selection of stock, things sell, they raise the price. Wash, rise, repeat....

I posted a link the eBay WTF thread; someone trying to sell Turok in box for (I think) $150 bucks.

Someday eBay will be useless for game collecting.

[ExedExes]

eBay has become price gouge city due to the ease of use. More collectors, easy selection of stock, things sell, they raise the price. Wash, rise, repeat....

Pretty much this. Took me forever to find a decent deal on SUPER MARIO ALL STARS of all games. Good luck finding one less than $20 on Ebay -- even just CART ONLY PLAYERS CHOICE edition.

[AppleQueso]

Someday eBay will be useless for game collecting.

It almost is, and it's made worse by the fact that many retro game stores are now using ebay for their pricing.

[sbk]

I was just just mentioning how when I got my Little Samson last year its ebay prices were $120 and now it is sitting closer to $200 on Ebay in another thread. It is getting crazy but I think we all saw this coming.

[AppleQueso]

Isn't this similar to what happened to comic books a while back? That market eventually returned to normal didn't it?

[retrosportsgamer]

Retro gaming is becoming more popular as the gaming industry itself grows.

Not to mention the popularity of shows like Pawn Stars and Storage Wars.

Nostalgia is a booming commodity now.

[flojocabron]

Prices are going up, like others here have said.

Sometimes its cause of the holidays. Thats over now. But when something goes up, it takes longer for it to go down.

Since Ebay is as close as a click away, sellers have become keen on this and they will reprice accordingly. We may complain, but we keep on buying from ebay anyways.

Sure you can find the game locally, if you try. But between work and other important errands. Some hardly have any time to dedicate to games hunting. So ebay is quick and easy. But not so easy on the wallet.

And newer trends are that normal non-ebay sellers see a price on the net and then price the same in their local game store/ fleamarket stand. And That raises local prices more.

The video game resale market is changing. People from 15-20 years ago didnt care about games in general. But us as gamers, make it an important part of our lives. And others are discovering games for the first time. Therefore raising the costs of our favorite pastime.

In another 20 years when games are all DLC and physical media is no longer made, it will make all 1st through 7th gen games more important to own. They will be the new hot collectible. Because by that time in the future everyone will be a gamer.

[DonSilvestre]

It just seems crazy to me that a game like Snow Bros. (which I happened to find at a thrift store for $2.00 two or three years ago) would jump in value almost 100% in less than a year. That makes me want to panic and snatch up all the close to $100 games like Megaman 7, X3, Dracula X, even Bubble Bobble 2 before they get completely and hopelessly out of what I'm willing to spend.

Except I just remembered I'm married. So much for that plan!